Family separations, political horse races, guns, weed and the NFL, from the UT/TT pollsters

In this special edition of the TribCast, Texas Tribune Executive Editor Ross Ramsey sits down with University of Texas at Austin pollsters Daron Shaw, Jim Henson and Josh Blank to talk about the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

Among the topics this week: 

1. Family separations

The short form: Texas voters don’t like the family separations on the U.S.-Mexico border. The poll gives us some insight into the reactions of public officials, particularly Republicans.

2. Trump, Mueller and the FBI

Trump is popular overall, largely because of overwhelming popularity among Texas Republicans. Voters are split — along partisan lines, in their views of Robert Mueller and the FBI.

3. Guns, marijuana and the NFL

Poor parenting and weak gun laws are the top problems Texas voters blame for recent school shootings, the poll found. Legalizing marijuana is just fine with most Texas voters — particularly the younger ones. And football might be popular in Texas, but the NFL has some reputation problems.

Thanks for tuning in and happy voting! We’ll see you next week! 

Ross Ramsey co-founded The Texas Tribune in 2009 and served as its executive editor until his retirement in 2022. He wrote regular columns on politics, government and public policy. Before joining the...

Todd Wiseman was the senior editor for video and multimedia at The Texas Tribune, where he worked from 2010 to 2023. Todd previously worked at the Austin School of Film and Synthetic Pictures and interned...