According to a new poll released by the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler on Sunday, actor Matthew McConaughey would defeat Gov. Greg Abbott in the race for governor of Texas next year.
The poll comes after the actor revealed last month that he is seriously considering a gubernatorial bid in his home state, according to the Hill.
The poll finds that 45 percent of registered voters in the state said they would likely support McConaughey if he ran for governor. By contrast, 33 percent of voters said they would still vote for Abbott, while slightly less than a quarter of respondents said they would vote for someone else.
Though it is not clear which party McConaughey identifies with the poll finds that he has a stronger support in the Democratic party and would fare better in a Democratic party primary than a Republican one. 70 percent of Democratic primary voters said they would vote for McConaughey, compared with 29 percent of Republican primary voters who said the same.
Among independents, 44 percent say they would back the actor, compared with the 28 percent for the governor.
The poll was conducted from April 6-13 and surveyed 1,126 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
