A New Poll Has Matthew McConaughey Absolutely Trouncing Texas Governor Greg Abbott If They Ran Against Each Other

Donald Trump changed America in many ways, and one of them is this: Other celebrities with zero political history have thought about running for office. Dwayne Johnson has considered running for president, but only after enough Americans thought he’d make a great — or at least its nicest, or simply most ripped — leader. Meanwhile Matthew McConaughey has been talking about running for governor of his home state of Texas. And if he did, a new poll suggests he’d kill it.

According to The Dallas Morning News, a new poll, conducted by the publication in tandem with the University of Texas at Tyler, only 33% of registered voters would go for Greg Abbott, the state’s sitting leader. Meanwhile, the guy who played bongos in the first Magic Mike would get a whopping 45% of their vote. As for the remaining 22% (or so), they would go for “someone else.”

Even when broken down along party lines, McConaughey’s doing perhaps better than expected. Of Republican voters, the actor scored only 30%, but that’s still a lot who would turn on Abbott, who has tried to sway Trump voters to his side by not doing much about the pandemic. (Meanwhile, when millions across his state lost power for days after a freak winter storm, he got roasted for trying to blame it on the Green New Deal, which has not even been voted on let alone enacted.)

McConaughey’s political aspirations — as well as new YouTube channel, which feature his musings — have gotten a lot of attention lately. So when news of the poll broke, there were inevitable Dazed and Confused jokes.

But there was also pushback. Some said they want an end to the trend of celebrities-turned-politicos, particularly if they have zero experience.

https://twitter.com/WJeffreyMarkham/status/1383784723982417928

And some pointed out there’s already a Texan who could nab the job.

(Via The Dallas Morning News)