Cornyn's approval rating held steady among Texas voters as he helped lead on gun bill, poll

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn's approval rating remained unchanged among home-state votes amid his efforts to draft and get support from fellow GOP senators for the bipartisan gun safety bill that passed late Thursday night in the Senate. 

According to a new Morning Consult poll, 43% of Texas voters approve of Cornyn's job performance. That figure is unchanged from surveys conducted prior to the mass shooting last month at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school in which 19 students and two teachers were killed.

More than one-third – 36% – disapprove of Cornyn's performance, a figure that rose one percentage point since the start of the latest gun control push on Capitol Hill, the polls also showed.

About 68% of Republicans approve of his job performance, which is unchanged since prior to his efforts on the gun safety legislation. However, the number of Republicans who disapprove of his performance rose from 11% to 17%.

The survey was conducted June 11-20 among 2,420 Texas registered voters, with a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

As compared to fellow GOP leaders in Texas, 29% of Republicans "strongly" approve of Cornyn's job performance, while 44% say the same about Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott. 

About one third (34%) of Texas independents approve of Cornyn's performance, as do 22% of Democrats. 

Cornyn was reelected by a comfortable margin in 2020, and has told the media that he doesn't think his work on the bipartisan gun legislation will harm his standing at home.