An ill-fated bid for the presidency has taken a toll on Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s popularity and worsened the outlook for his potential reelection campaign, according to a new poll by several Texas newspapers.
Perry’s popularity in his home state dropped 10 points in the past year to settle at 40 percent, a full 3 points below that of President Obama statewide. And 37 percent of people say that they have a less favorable view of Perry after a campaign filled with embarrassing stumbles on the national stage, like the time he famously failed to name a third federal department he would cut during a debate in early November.
In worse news for Perry, more than half of Texas voters -- 53 percent -- say he should not run for another term as governor in 2014 (the state has no term limits). The Dallas Morning News notes that support for another Perry gubernatorial bid is especially weak among three key voting blocs: those 50 and older, those with incomes over $100,000, and those with advanced or professional degrees.
Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan noted to The Morning News that the governor has faced bad poll numbers before -- particularly during the 2010 governor’s race, when he trailed primary opponent Kay Bailey Hutchison badly entering the race only to win the primary by a significant margin and then handily beat his Democratic opponent, Bill White.
“Governor Perry remains strongly and conservatively at the helm of Texas state government and may well run for reelection in 2014,” Sullivan told the paper.
The poll was conducted by Blum & Weprin Associates Inc. of New York. The firm surveyed 806 adults (including 669 registered voters) in Texas on Saturday through Tuesday. The sample has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points among adults and plus or minus 3.8 percentage points among registered voters.
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