McConaughey leads in Texas governor race in head-to-head matchups with Abbott, O'Rourke, poll

McConaughey has not declared a candidacy nor said whether he would run as a Democrat or Republican

Published: November 22, 2021 8:57am

Updated: November 22, 2021 9:17am

A new poll of Texas voters shows actor Matthew McConaughey leading the state's gubernatorial race in hypothetical matchups with incumbent GOP Gov. Gregg Abbott and leading Democrat Beto O'Rourke

McConaughey, who has not declared a candidacy nor whether he would run as a Democrat or Republican, leads Abbott in a head-to-head matchup by 8 percentage points, 43 to 35 percent, according the Dallas Morning News/University of Texas at Tyler Poll.

The poll was a statewide, random sample of 1,106 registered voters from Nov. 9-16. The poll's margin of error was 2.9 percentage points.

In a head-to-head matchup with O'Rourke, a former Texas congressman who has launched failed bids for the Senate and White House, McConaughey leads 49 to 27%, the poll shows.

In a hypothetical, three-way matchup, Abbott leads among 37% of the respondents, followed by McConaughey with 27% and O'Rourke with 26%, the poll also shows.