A new poll shows that while the races for the top three statewide offices remain tight, there's very little movement.
The poll by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University shows Governor Abbott with a seven-point lead over his Democratic challenger, Beto O'Rourke.
"The Republicans have been pulling away slightly in the last couple of polls," says Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. "So this suggests that there is a bit of a space increase between Democrats and Republicans statewide, at least at the top of the ticket."
Rottinghaus says while the race remains close between Abbott and O'Rourke, the relative lack of undecided voters may spell doom for O'Rourke.
"Polarization has definitely shaped this race, like every other race across the country," says Rottinghaus. "So once you've got that kind of partisan hardening, it's really a challenge to be able to move the needle."
It's a similar story in the race for lieutenant governor, with Dan Patrick maintaining a six-point lead over Mike Collier.
This week, two prominent Republicans -- Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley and State Senator Kel Seliger -- announced that they're endorsing Collier, and Democratic State Senator Eddie Lucio Jr. announced that he's supporting Patrick.
Rottinghaus says there could be some movement in the race for lieutenant governor.
"There are some Republicans who don't see eye to eye with their leadership," says Rottinghaus. "So there could be a case here where if you can convince people that Republicans haven't done a good job and that Democrats might do slightly better, than there's an opportunity there for Democrats to peel off some leaning conservative and sometimes Republican-voting voters."
The race for attorney general is the closest, with Ken Paxton leading Rochelle Garza by only three points.
"Ken Paxton is only getting 87% of Republicans supporting him, and that's in contrast and 90%-plus for both Governor Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Patrick," Rottinghaus says. "O'Rourke and Abbott are each getting about 45% of the female vote. But for Garza, she's got a bit more of a lead -- she's got a six or seven point lead. You also see a slight lead for her among Latinos."
The poll of 1,312 likely voters was conducted from August 11th to the 29th.
The margin of error is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
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