With Texas primary elections looming on March 1, Texans are nearly evenly split over the direction of the Lone Star state, according to a poll released on Feb. 21. The state’s political climate is slightly more positive towards Republicans, the Dallas Morning News/University of Texas at Tyler poll shows. Half of the 1,188 respondents (50 percent), all registered voters, believe the state overall is going in the right direction, while 49 percent indicated the state was on the “wrong track.”  One percent said “neither.” Meanwhile, 70 percent of all respondents expressed they were “very confident” or “somewhat confident” that the Texas primaries, the nation’s earliest, would be conducted “fairly or accurately.” The governor’s primary numbers show incumbent Republican Greg Abbott supported by 60 percent of Republicans and his nearest primary challengers at 7 and 6 percent. His current 50 percent approval rating in February rose from 45 percent in September. …