Texas voters’ biggest concerns for the country? Immigration and political corruption, UT/TT Poll says

Immigration and border security are the most important problems facing the state, but political corruption/leadership continues to edge into Texas voters’ top two concerns facing the country, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

Immigration was listed as the most important problem facing the country by 16% of voters, followed by political corruption/leadership (15%), border security (12%), health care (8%) and three items — moral decline, gun control/gun violence and environment — each listed by 5% of voters.

The state list was similar, dominated by two familiar items: immigration (20%) and border security (17%). Health care (8%), education (7%), political corruption/leadership (6%) and gun control/gun violence (5%) rounded out the top items.

Half of the state’s registered voters said things are on the wrong track for the country, while 40% said the country is on the right track.

The outlook for the state is more positive, in what has become a regular pattern in UT/TT Polls: 49% of voters said the state is headed in the right direction, while 34% said the state is on the wrong track.

Voters are upbeat about economics, with a strong majority saying things are better financially than they were a year ago for the country, for the state and for their own families. The national economy is better, according to 47%, while 26% say the national economy is worse than a year ago and 23% say it’s about the same. As for the state economy, 43% say it’s better, 17% say it’s worse and 35% say Texas is about the same as it was a year ago.

Asked about how they and their families are faring, 40% say they’re better off, 19% say things were better a year ago and 37% say things are about the same.

More voters feel positive about several civic institutions, but the federal government and the courts/criminal justice need to work on their reputations. On balance, more voters have high opinions of the military (71% favorable to 11% unfavorable), the police (58% to 23%), state government (48% to 29%) and municipal/local government (46% to 26%).

But 24% have a favorable opinion of the federal government and 53% have an unfavorable view. The views of the courts/criminal justice aren’t as lopsided, but they’re still below the balance point: 35% say they have a favorable impression; 38% have a negative one.

The University of Texas/Texas Tribune internet survey of 1,200 registered voters was conducted from May 31-June 9 and has an overall margin of error of +/- 2.83 percentage points. Numbers in charts might not add up to 100% because of rounding.

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