Poll: Wendy Davis Gains Approval But Wouldn't Beat Perry for Governor

Democratic Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis sports a strong approval rating among Texas voters after her filibuster in favor of abortion last week, according to a survey from Public Policy Polling.

But that support isn't strong enough to propel her past Texas GOP Gov. Rick Perry in a hypothetical match-up for governor.

Davis garners a favorable opinion from 39 percent of voters and an unfavorable opinion from 29 percent. That 10-percentage-point difference in her favor represents a huge improvement from negative 4 points in January. Then she had a 15 percent favorable total, and a 19 percent unfavorable total.

But Davis trails in a hypothetical race for governor against Perry 53 to 39 percent.

The incumbent governor's approval rating has improved too, though more voters still disapprove of him than approve of him. A total of 45 percent of voters view him favorably, while 50 percent view him unfavorably. In January, the numbers were 41 percent favorable and 54 percent unfavorable.

The survey of 500 Texas voters was conducted June 28th to July 1. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.