A new poll by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune shows that many Texans are not familiar with some of the highest profile politicians in the state, particularly the Democratic ones.
Nearly half of voters claimed to have never heard of San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who delivered the keynote address at Democratic National Convention last year.
Only 11 percent of Texas voters said they had a favorable opinion of State Senator Wendy Davis, whom some political insiders believe might be a candidate for governor next year. Almost 60 percent of respondents hadn’t even heard of Davis.
Jim Henson of UT’s Texas Politics Project was co-director of the poll.
“What you see in a nutshell is the problem that the Democrats have with candidates,” Henson said. “There’s not a lot of candidates that are really up there and very foremost in the consciousness of your average Texan.”
Texans didn’t do much better with Republican politicians. 17 percent of voters had not heard of US Senator Ted Cruz, and 31 percent didn’t know that Greg Abbott is the Texas Attorney General.
Five percent of people said they had no idea who Rick Perry is.