![LEFT: Matthew McConaughey participates in a Q&A after a special screening of his new film "The Gentlemen" at Hogg Memorial Auditorium at The University of Texas at Austin on January 21, 2020 in Austin, Texas. RIGHT: Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference where Abbott signed Senate Bills 2 and 3 at the Capitol on June 8, 2021 in Austin, Texas.](https://media.nbcdfw.com/2021/07/Matthew-McConaughey-Greg-Abbott-split.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&resize=320%2C180)
LEFT: Matthew McConaughey participates in a Q&A after a special screening of his new film “The Gentlemen” at Hogg Memorial Auditorium at The University of Texas at Austin on January 21, 2020 in Austin, Texas. RIGHT: Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference where Abbott signed Senate Bills 2 and 3 at the Capitol on June 8, 2021 in Austin, Texas.
Gov. Greg Abbott, after trailing potential challenger Matthew McConaughey in the spring, has rebounded and now has a slight — but not statistically significant — lead over the movie star in a hypothetical matchup in next year’s race for governor, according to a poll released Sunday by The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler.
Abbott, a two-term Republican, is favored by 39% of Texans of all political stripes, while McConaughey, who hasn’t picked a political party or even committed to running, draws backing from 38%. Nearly a quarter of Texans said they’d vote for someone else.
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The poll, conducted June 22-29, surveyed 1,090 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
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