Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat, has named a Republican former lawmaker to her transition leadership team, making a bipartisan appointment as she prepares to take office in January. Former state Representative Ernest Bailes, a conservative from East Texas, is among the first four people selected to help shape Hinojosa's incoming administration. The announcement came on November 5 during Hinojosa's first public appearance since defeating three-term incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott in Tuesday's election.
The governor-elect said she wanted her administration to represent Texans across the political spectrum, not only the Democrats who supported her campaign. "I am not going to be the governor for just Democrats. I am going to be the governor for all the people of Texas," Hinojosa said, adding: "We will have a bipartisan transition, and we will have a bipartisan administration and government in Texas." Bailes, who served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2017 to 2025, is set to co-chair the transition team alongside Ryan Pollock, the executive director of the Texas State Building and Construction Trades Council.
Newsweek contacted Hinojosa's campaign for comment via email on Friday. At the news conference, Hinojosa said she chose a bipartisan transition team to deliver on campaign promises, saying, "People are tired of the divisions, of the fighting." "This is a time to come together in a way that is about just delivering for the people of Texas," the governor-elect continued. Hinojosa, who has served in the Texas House of Representatives since 2017, said she and Bailes were close allies in their work on public education.
"In fact, I count him as one of my best allies for public schools. There is really little light between our positions on public education," she added. While in office, Bailes opposed Abbott's efforts to introduce a private school voucher program in Texas.
In 2023, he was among a group of Republican lawmakers who joined Democrats in blocking the governor's school voucher proposal, which would have allowed public money to help families pay for private education. Bailes' opposition came at a political cost, as Abbott backed Republican primary challengers against lawmakers who helped defeat his voucher plan. With Abbott's endorsement, Janis Holt won the 2024 primary for Texas House District 18 by about 4,000 votes, unseating Bailes.
Speaking at Thursday's announcement in Austin, Bailes said he was ready to work across party lines with the incoming governor. "We will work together for what is best for the kids of the state of Texas. We will be able to take care of education, and we will support and listen to the people," he said.
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