One poll question for Texas voters has created one big discussion about the state’s race for governor.

There are three expressions the question’s primary subject, Matthew McConaughey, may have considered when he heard about the results.

1. All right

Because he’s on the questionnaire.

The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler posed a few pages’ worth of queries seeking answers from 1,126 registered voters. The big question involved Texas’ incumbent governor, Greg Abbott. Would the Texans vote for Abbott in a race against … McConaughey?

2. All right

Because he performed surprisingly well.

The actor beat Abbott by double digits, 45 percent to 33 percent. McConaughey has said if he opted for political office, he’d carry his centrist stance with him. The poll showed Democrats firmly in his corner with a 66 percent “yes” rate, 8 percent for Abbott and 22 percent said they would vote for someone other than McConaughey or Abbott.

Among Republican, 56 percent responded in favor of Abbott, 30 percent for McConaughey.

3. All right

Because he’s been considering running.

While McConaughey’s centrist idealogy could pose problems winning the Democratic nomination, he’s an immensely popular figure in the state because of his movie career and cultural status. That landscape has worked before – remember Arnold “The Governator” Schwarzenegger in California and former President Donald Trump?

More than 50 percent of the Democrats polled preferred a progressive candidate over a centrist. 

McConaughey has not said he’s running, but has referenced the possibility.

“Look, I’m a ‘Meet You in the Middle’ man. When I say ‘aggressively centric,’ that sometimes gets parceled over there with ‘Oh, that’s a shade of gray, a compromise,'” he told the Austin American-Statesman. “And I say, ‘Bulls—. That’s a dare. Right now, that’s radical. You wanna be brave? Come on over here.'”

Add comment