A new poll for the Texas November elections shows Abbott leading Beto O’Rourke by 8 points and Texas Republicans with a lead over Democrats.

Texans polled were split between the total number of Texas adults, those who registered to vote, and those who are definitely voting. That is important because a Texas adult can have an opinion for elected officials, but that does not mean that they will be voting or are registered to vote and that matters when looking at these numbers.

1,226 Texas adults were polled at the end of September and the beginning of October. 85% were registered voters and will definitely be voting this year. Almost half of Texans plan to vote early (48%) and only 10% say they will vote by mail or absentee vote.

Amongst registered voters in Texas, 49% choose Governor Abbott, and 45% choose O’Rourke. But when looking at those who are definitely voting, 52% choose Abbott compared to 44% for O’Rourke.

Only 39% of both Texas adults and Texas registered voters have a favorable opinion of Beto O’Rourke while 48% of registered voters have a disfavorable view of O’Rourke. Yet for those who are definitely voting in November, 41% have a favorable view of O’Rourke and 51% disfavorable.

Abbott is not doing that great either. Only 43% of Texas adults have a favorable opinion of Governor Abbott and 46% unfavorable one. Yet, amongst registered voters, 47% have a favorable opinion of Abbott compared to 48% disfavoring him. For those who are definitely voting in November, 49% have a favorable opinion of him compared to 47% disfavorable.

The top issue was inflation, across the three different categories of voters. Second was preserving democracy and making sure we have fair accurate elections and are preventing issues such as corrupt corporate interests and corrupt government.

Next was abortion which has become a hot issue in Texas specifically since Texas’s strict trigger laws went into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. There is currently a court case pending if organizations in Texas are allowed to fund travel out of the state to get an abortion.

Fourth was the immigration crisis which is a tense issue in Texas and is currently Abbott‘s best issue that he’s running on.

Coming in fifth was healthcare, followed lastly by crime.

Easily inflation (37%) and immigration (25%) were the top two issues amongst Republicans, with preserving democracy (13%) third.

Preserving democracy (30%), abortion (27%), and inflation (16%) were the top three issues for Democrats.

Independents ranked inflation and preserving democracy the same (26%), then followed by abortion (16%), which came before immigration (12%).

Around ¾ of Texans believe that Texas will have a fair and accurate election across all party lines.

Abbott appears to have a vast majority of voters in both West and East Texas, and a slight majority in the Houston Area, surprisingly. O’Rourke has a vast majority of Dallas/Ft. Worth, a majority of the Latino Southwest, and a slim majority in Southcentral Texas.

A problem for Democrats in Texas, regardless if they’re conservative or liberal, is that they are tied with the unfavorable opinion of Joe Biden, which among Texas registered voters is 54%. And so there are even Democrats in Texas trying to pull away from being associated with Biden including Beto O’Rourke.

This pole is indicative of where the voter bases are and where the Independents might be, but it all comes down to who is actually going to vote on Tuesday, November 8. Just polled Texans don’t matter as much as those who register to vote and declare that they are definitely voting.