The majority of Texas voters surveyed in a bipartisan study released by the Texas Credit Union League have indicated that the economy and jobs are the top issues facing the state and Texas voters.

The study was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican consulting firm out of Virginia, and Hamilton Campaigns, a Democratic organization based in Florida.

Overall, the study concluded that Texas voters are more confident in their state’s economy when compared to the rest of the nation. The results were calculated via a telephone survey of 800 Texas registered voters and has a 3.5 percent margin of error.

" Texas voters are more optimistic than the rest of the country about our state's economy and surviving this national current financial crisis," said Buddy Gill, TCUL's chief advocacy officer.

According to the survey, 55 percent of Texas voters believe the state is heading in the right direction, which is improved from 46 percent in 2004.

At the moment, only 3 percent rate the economy as “excellent,” about 50 percent rate it “good” and 36 percent say it is “not-so-good” and 10 percent are calling the economy “poor.”

The optimists make up the majority in terms of future expectations with 45 percent of Texans believing the economy will get better in the next two years, 22 percent think it will worsen and 29 percent believe it will remain the same.

In terms of issues of concern, 42 percent of Texas voters named the economy and jobs as the state's top concern. That is followed by illegal immigration (35 percent), education (35 percent), health care (25 percent), moral values (21percent), property taxes (17 percent), and state spending (10 percent).

Texans also rated their elected representatives. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, achieved the highest score with 66 percent of respondents giving her a favorable rating, 18 percent giving her a negative rating and the rest undecided. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, scored 47 percent in the positive rating category and 22 percent held a negative perception. Gov. Rick Perry had an approval score of 52 percent against 40 percent who were not content. Texas voters gave President Barack Obama a 49 percent approval rating compared to a 40 percent negative approval rating. Voters who were undecided were not included in the percentage breakdown.

Looking ahead to the Republican primaries in Texas, the survey concluded that Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry received identical job approval ratings from Republican primary voters.