AUSTIN — Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott leads Democratic rival Wendy Davis by 18 percentage points in his campaign’s latest internal survey, the attorney general’s pollster told supporters Wednesday evening.

The poll, which was completed last week, shows Abbott beating Davis 53 to 35 percent, Chris Wilson of WPA Opinion Research said on a conference call for people who gave $25 or more to Abbott’s campaign. He did not disclose the survey’s methodology or margin of error.

Wilson was emphatic that Abbott’s numbers have only improved since the Davis campaign stepped up its attacks on him, going on the air last month with two negative commercials. At 52 percent, Abbott’s favorability rating is the highest it has ever been throughout the race, Wilson said.

The pollster also told listeners that the survey found Abbott ahead of Davis by 6 points among women and 11 points among Hispanics. The margins are 47-41 and 51-40, respectively.

Davis pollster Joel Benenson has said her campaign’s internal polling indicates the race is “very much within striking distance.” Most public polling this year has shown Davis trailing Abbott by double digits, though a Rasmussen survey last month had her down by 8 points.

Asked whether anyone from the Davis campaign listened in on the call, spokesman Zac Petkanas replied, “No, I’m not big on science fiction.”

“While anyone can make up polling numbers they can’t make up the fact that Abbott sided with a corporation against a rape victim, with his donors against cancer patients, and with Austin insiders against public schools by defending $5.4 billion in education cuts,” Petkanas later added in a statement, rattling off some of the Davis campaign’s most recent attacks on Abbott.