Texas has elected its first Democratic governor in 35 years and the first Hispanic governor in the state’s history.
Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa defeated incumbent Greg Abbott (R) in the Texas governor’s race, according to the Associated Press, a stunning victory for Democrats in a state they long hoped to turn blue. Hinojosa, 52, becomes only the third woman to lead the state, following in the footsteps of Ann Richards in 1990 and Miriam “Ma” Ferguson in 1924.
Hinojosa’s victory was part of a historic rout in Texas that also saw the state elect its first Democratic senator in several decades.
The governor’s race was unusually competitive. President Donald Trump visited the state repeatedly to energize Republicans. But his declining approval ratings were a boon for Democrats nationally. And in Texas, Republicans faced headwinds generated by the Senate run of the state’s embattled attorney general, Ken Paxton, who lost to Democrat James Talarico.
During her campaign, Hinojosa promised to reverse landmark Republican policies, including the Texas GOP’s mid-decade redistricting last summer, and vowed not to raise taxes.
When she takes office in January, Hinojosa said, she plans to immediately declare a moratorium on data centers, fully fund the state’s public schools using billions in state surplus, end state takeovers of schools in blue cities, replace the conservative state superintendent of schools and send every Texas household $1,500, which she dubbed “the Greg Abbott corruption tax refund.”
“It doesn’t belong to the politicians. It belongs to the people of Texas. Because right now, people are struggling out there,” Hinojosa said to cheers at her packed final rally in downtown Austin late Monday.
She called the election “the fight of our time.”
“It is the fight to decide who does Texas belong to,” Hinojosa said. “Is this going to be a Texas that is by and for the people?”
Hinojosa grew up along the border in the Rio Grande Valley, where her father was until recently the longtime leader of the state’s Democratic Party.
She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, then George Washington University Law School, and moved to Austin. There she became a civil rights and labor attorney and had two children.
In 2012, Hinojosa successfully ran her first campaign for local school board. Four years later, she was elected to the legislature, where she joined a Democratic quorum break to delay state Republicans’ redistricting.
During her campaign for governor, Hinojosa capitalized on voter outrage at Abbott’s new school voucher program and his past promotion of massive, energy-devouring data centers, particularly in rural areas.
Abbott attempted to brand her as too progressive for Texas, but Hinojosa found nuanced ways to defuse his attacks. In a viral campaign ad, she explained why, as a pro-choice Catholic who opposed the state’s abortion ban, she had decided to carry her first pregnancy to term despite a genetic abnormality that led to the baby being stillborn.
In a state with largest Latino population in the country outside of California, Hinojosa emphasized her roots as a border native, or “fronteriza,” campaigning in English and Spanish with the motto “No te dejes,” or “Don’t back down.”
Her appeal to Latino voters was probably key in an election that saw many independents abandon the GOP, outraged at the federal immigration crackdown in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rammed and fatally shot Texas residents.
Abbott took office in 2015 as a pro-business conservative, creating policies that drew a wave of technology companies to migrate to the state. He became associated with Trump’s MAGA movement and made opposition to illegal immigration central to his agenda.
Hinojosa has been active in the statehouse on issues including opposing state Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting. On the campaign trail, she called Abbott’s economic plan “corporate welfare.”
As the campaign heated up, Abbott changed course on several issues, withdrawing his support for the data centers and the use of license-plate-reading Flock cameras in the state.
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