The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.
A new poll records Texans’ take on a variety of issues in the lead-up to the 2020 elections – including, of course, who should be president. According to the poll, President Donald Trump trails most of his Democratic challengers in head-to-head contests within the state.
The University of Texas at Tyler surveyed roughly 1,400 registered voters in the state. The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
Mark Owens is an assistant professor of political science at UT-Tyler. He says Sens. Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders enjoy slight leads over Trump.
“What we did find though was a significant advantage for Beto O’Rourke in Texas, against Donald Trump, among the registered voters in the state.” Owens says.
The former El Paso Congressman has a 10-point lead over Trump in a matchup between the two in Texas. Of the candidates poll participants were asked about, the only two Democrats Trump beats are former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
The poll also asked about the U.S. Senate race in Texas – and the jury is out on the state’s senior Senator, John Cornyn. While one-fourth of respondents approve of Cornyn’s performance and 27% disapprove, another 48% replied, they “don’t know.”
Owens says based on these responses, it’s too early to draw conclusions about the possible outcome of this contest.
“We really, we see a lot of candidates entering the race on the Democratic side,” Owens says. “I think it’s because they see there are a number of voters that are still looking for an option. But in this case Senator Cornyn hasn’t really begun campaigning in earnest and this gives a sense of the electorate not yet paying attention to this race.”
Sen. Cornyn did enjoy a higher rate of support among Republican voters. Nearly 43% approve of the job he’s doing as U.S. Senator.
The City of Dallas is facing a lawsuit over its new paid sick leave policy. It’s scheduled to go into effect tomorrow.
KERA’s Syeda Hasan reports.
The Dallas ordinance would require companies to give paid sick time to employees who work at least 80 hours a year. Two companies based in Collin County filed the federal lawsuit. They have employees who work in the city of Dallas, so they would have to comply.
The businesses are represented by the conservative think tank, Texas Public Policy Foundation. The group is questioning the constitutionality of the Dallas ordinance and others around the state.
San Antonio agreed to delay its paid sick leave ordinance. And an appeals court deemed a similar ordinance in Austin unconstitutional.
A spokesperson for the City of Dallas declined to comment, but says city attorneys are reviewing the lawsuit.
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday he’ll hold a televised town hall next month. The hour-long program will air live on Nexstar stations throughout the state. Abbott’s office says the August 15 town hall will cover this year’s legislative session and local issues affecting Texans.
