(Tony Sifert, Headline USA) New polling data from Paradigm Partners LLC has shown that a runoff GOP primary election between Texas gubernatorial incumbent Greg Abbott and Lt. Col. Allen West is increasingly likely, according to National File.
“Abbott polled at 73% last summer prior to West’s entry to the race, but dropped to 34.18% in the latest poll,” National File reported.
“The strength of this data shows that Allen West is the only viable candidate that can beat incumbent Greg Abbott,” West’s campaign wrote in a press release.
“The numbers from the Paradigm poll last week of likely Republican primary voters is very encouraging,” West said in an accompanying statement. “However, the most important poll will be on March 1st when legal votes are tallied.”
According to Texas’ election code, “a candidate in a primary election must receive a majority of the total number of votes received by all the candidates for the nomination.”
If no candidate receives at least 51% of the vote, then “a runoff primary election shall be held to determine the nomination.”
The Paradigm Partners also showed that West is particularly popular among Hispanic men, and that he has a better chance of defeating Democrat candidate Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke.
The poll appears to contradict the results of a University of Texas-Tyler / Dallas Morning News poll published at the end of January.
That poll “found Abbott leading a bevy of conservative challengers with 59 percent of the vote,” according to The Hill.
West, who had been serving as Chair of the Republican Party of Texas since July of 2020, announced his decision to enter the gubernatorial contest on June 6, 2021.
“I now prepare to meet the constant pressure of the progressive socialist left with a resolute pressure of a constitutional conservative,” West wrote in an announcement that took inspiration from both Ayn Rand and Mel Gibson’s character in Braveheart.
West has cited “securing the border, election integrity, and property tax relief” as the most important issues for Texans, according to The Texan.
