AUSTIN, Texas – Candidate filing deadlines are around the corner for March primaries, and potential candidates want to know what's important to Texas voters. The Texas Credit Union League decided to commission two polls to find out, and in the process gauge voter opinion of the job credit unions are doing. Both Democratic and Republican registered voters in Texas gave credit unions favorable ratings – 73% and 65% – in two separate surveys conducted in October. The surveys, which had a margin or error of or +4.9%, also indicated that 52% of the 403 Democratic voters and 45% of the 400 Republican voters polled are credit union members. Results of the polls, commissioned by the League, were released at the League's Campaign School held recently. "Since Texas' redistricting, elections are won or lost in the primaries. For down-ballot candidates, the poll results told Campaign School attendees what voters were looking for in the upcoming political campaigns," said TCUL Director of Communications and Advocacy Allison Castle. "It also sent a clear message that credit unions and Texas Credit Union League pay attention to politics." President Bush's pollster Jan Van Louhizen of Voter/Consumer Research and Pollster of the Year Dave Beattie of Hamilton, Beattie & Staff, conducted the Republican and Democrat polls respectively. Interestingly, the polls also showed education and health care to be the top issues among Democratic registered voters, in contrast to illegal immigration and moral values as the top issues to Republican registered voters – results that had political commentators talking on both a state and national level. Attended by approximately 50 people, TCUL's free Campaign School was geared toward individuals wanting to run for office, work on political campaigns or learn more about the election process. The event was held two consecutive days, one for Republicans and one for Democrats. "We had `A-list' political consultants speak on topics ranging from entering the political arena, fundraising, media to polling," said TCUL Senior Vice President for Advocacy Buddy Gill. Ross Ramsey, editor of Texas Weekly, a popular political news magazine, spoke on both days about the lay of the land in Texas politics. Ramsey's weekly commentary on the good, bad and ugly in politics and government is a Friday treat for lawmakers, lobbyists and political junkies on both sides of the aisle. Last week's issue of Texas Weekly broke the news of the TCUL primary polls to those who didn't attend the campaign school and to the mainstream media. The TCUL Poll took the number one spot in the magazine – above the proposition stories – and it made ink in the National Journal's online newsroom, the Hotline. [email protected]

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to CUTimes.com, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited CUTimes.com content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking credit union news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Shared Accounts podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the commercial real estate and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, GlobeSt.com and ThinkAdvisor.com
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.