Though he has not officially announced his candidacy yet, the 'True Detective' actor receives more support from Texans to be the next state governor than Gov. Abbott.
- April 20, 2021
AceShowbiz - Matthew McConaughey has become an early frontrunner to be the next Texas Governor. The Academy Award-winning actor has topped a poll surveying support for Texas' next governor, leading over incumbent Greg Abbott.
Despite him having not announced his candidacy yet, McConaughey receives more support from Texans than the current governor does. According to the poll, which was released on Sunday, April 18 by The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler, 45 percent of Texas registered voters said they would vote for the "Dallas Buyers Club" star.
In comparison, Gov. Abbott only received 33 percent votes from the surveyees, while the remaining 22 percent stated that they would choose someone else other than the two possible candidates. The aforementioned poll also found that 66 percent of Democratic respondents would support McConaughey as opposed to 8 percent support for the Republican politician. Meanwhile, 56 percent of Republicans said they'd vote for Abbott, compared with only 30 percent for McConaughey.
The new poll was conducted from April 6-13 and surveyed 1,126 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
McConaughey's popularity is believed to boost his electability, with one person telling the Dallas Morning News, "He's popular, he's colorful, and he's not afraid to tell it like it is. He has some of the same qualities of Donald Trump, and that will play well in Texas."
McConaughey previously teased his possible run for the state office during an interview on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" back in March. "It's something I'm giving consideration. Absolutely," he stated. "What an honorable thing to even be able to consider," he admitted before cutting himself short, "I'm no further than that right now, Sir."
The 51-year-old also weighed on the possibility of dabbling in politics during an appearance on "The Hugh Hewitt Show" in November 2020. He said, "Look, politics seems to be a broken business to me right now. And when politics redefines its purpose, I could be a hell of a lot more interested."
