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Matthew McConaughey Easily Beats Greg Abbott In Texas Governor Poll—But Not Everyone Is Excited About It

Matthew McConaughey Easily Beats Greg Abbott In Texas Governor Poll—But Not Everyone Is Excited About It
Rick Kern/Getty Images/Lynda M. Gonzalez-Pool/Getty Images

Actor Matthew McConaughey has said he is seriously considering running for governor of his home state of Texas. A recent poll shows he has a fighting chance of winning if he chooses to run.

The poll, which was released by The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler (UT-Tyler), showed McConaughey leading Abbott with 45% of all registerd voters saying they would vote for him. 33% of voters said they would vote for Abbott, and 22% said they would vote for a different candidate.

The poll was conducted between April 6-13, and surveyed 1,126 Texas voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.92%.

In regards to the possibility of him running, and his motivation for doing so, McConaughey said:

"I do think I have some things to teach and share."
"What is my role?"
"What's my category in my next chapter of life that I'm going into?"

Mark Owens, a political scientist from UT-Tyler who directed the poll, said McConaughey's name recognition is a big factor here.

"Matthew McConaughey gets a huge boost from tremendous name recognition and recognition for what he does to help Texans and add to the celebration of the state's successes."
"Most of our survey respondents know his story, but many are waiting to see how he opens his next chapter."

Not everyone was happy with the idea of McConaughey running though. Lots of folks took to Twitter to voice their disapproval.

Some questioned his qualifications, while others disagreed with his politics.

Many still said he would be better than Abbott, however.





It remains to be seen whether "at least he's not Abbott" could really garner enough votes to win McConaughey the Texas gubernatorial race, but this poll does hint that could be the case.