Gina Hinojosa is set to become the next governor of Texas after voters denied Republican Gov. Greg Abbott a fourth term and he conceded to her. It’s a stunning upset by Hinojosa, a state legislator who will become the first Latina to hold the Lone Star State’s top job.
Hinojosa mounted a competitive bid against Abbott with a disciplined focus on corruption, which she argued is to blame for soaring prices, declining public schools and the aggressive expansion of data centers. Hinojosa was able to capitalize on Trump’s low approval ratings and economic pressures that saw voters who had supported Trump grow disillusioned with the Republican Party. Abbott, a Republican stalwart in a state that has long favored Republicans, outspent Hinojosa about eight-to-one.
On the campaign trail and in ads, Abbott promised voters he would work to lower taxes, keep out further regulations on the oil industry, protect the border with Mexico and attract more jobs to the state. In the early days of the general election, Abbott rarely mentioned his opponent. That changed as the race appeared to grow more competitive in the polls.
By the final days, Abbott was attacking Hinojosa on a number of fronts, calling her “woke” and accusing her of supporting tax increases as a legislator. Before the attacks began, Hinojosa had seized on Abbott’s silence to introduce herself to voters, turning her low name recognition into an asset. Hinojosa leaned heavily on her political origin story, telling voters that the threat of closure facing her son’s school prompted her to get involved in politics.
Hinojosa wasn’t a stranger to the political world: Her dad was a county judge and former chair of the state party. Her experience working on public education issues in Austin and in the legislature offered a jumping-off point to connect with conservative voters in Texas, many of whom had grown dismayed by Republicans’ remaking of the K-12 education system. In Texas, the rollout of a $1 billion school voucher program allowing parents to use public school dollars to cover some of the cost of private schools led to backlash as neighborhood public schools closed or shifted to four-day schedules, while others struggled with persistent teacher shortages.
Hinojosa promised to end the voucher program, increase teacher pay and “DOGE” the state’s education agency by ending no-bid contracts to education vendors and curbing the size of the agency. Hinojosa also promised to stop state takeovers of local school districts and has criticized the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom. Hinojosa launched her campaign with the slogan, “No te dejes,” which became a staple in her stump speech to voters.
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