Texans were asked about Trump, senators and Congress. Who got the highest approval?

Texans usually aren't ambivalent. But when it comes to Republican President Donald Trump, there are definite mixed feelings.

A new poll shows that Texans are split down the middle — 46 percent approve of the job he's doing as president and 46 percent don't.

"No one is neutral about Donald Trump," said Jim Riddlesperger, a political science professor at TCU. "You get strong reactions about him."

As expected, the bulk of the president's Texas support comes from Republicans (83 percent approve of his work).

And the bulk of his detractors are Democrats (84 percent disapprove of his work).

Love him or hate him, Texans still give the president higher ratings than many other voters do.

"Split dead-even is much more favorable to him than what nationwide polls show," Riddlesperger said.

Trump logged a 41.1 percent approval rating Monday afternoon from adults across the country, according to an ongoing poll by FiveThirtyEight.

"We are still more supportive of Trump here in Texas than they are nationwide," Riddlesperger said. "That reflects the fact that we are in a red state."

The Texas poll, by the University of Texas at Austin and The Texas Tribune, also shows that 8 percent of Texans either don't know or had no opinion about the job the president is doing.

Texans in the poll were also asked about several officials, including the state's two U.S. senators, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn.

Cruz, who is up for re-election this year, got the higher marks of the two, with a 40 percent approval rate and a 41 percent disapproval rate. Nineteen percent said they didn't know or had no opinion.

Cornyn, meanwhile, received a 29 percent approval rate and a 38 disapproval rate. Thirty-three percent said they didn't know or had no opinion.

Congress as a whole received a 19 percent approval rate, the highest it has received in a year. Last February, 26 percent approved of the job congressional members were doing.

This year's marks could reflect the tax reform measures Congress passed last year.

"That's probably the reason," Riddlesperger said. "Even those who may not agree with the particulars of the bill, they can say finally Congress has done something."

The internet survey, conducted Feb. 1-12, reached 1,200 registered voters and has a margin of error of 2.83 percentage points.

Anna Tinsley: 817-390-7610, @annatinsley

This story was originally published February 19, 2018 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Texans were asked about Trump, senators and Congress. Who got the highest approval?."