Gina Hinojosa Ends 31-Year Republican Streak in Texas

Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Governor Greg Abbott to become the next governor of Texas on Tuesday night.

The Associated Press called the race for Hinojosa, marking the first Democratic gubernatorial victory in the state since 1995. George W. Bush won that year, breaking a streak that had held Democratic leadership since Ann Richards took office in 1990. Hinojosa will be the first Hispanic governor of a state with the largest Latino population in the United States.

Campaign finance filings show Abbott’s campaign spent $281 million over the past year. Hinojosa’s campaign spent $36.8 million during the same period. This spending gap represents a near eight-to-one advantage for the incumbent. Abbott’s total outlay more than doubled his $131 million expenditure during his 2022 bid.

Abbott served as governor for three terms. Before entering executive office, he spent more than a decade in the Texas judicial system. Governor Bush appointed him to the Texas Supreme Court in 1995, and he won re-election twice in the late 1990s. He served as state attorney general starting in 2002 for over a decade. In 2014, he won the governor’s race by more than 20 points against state Senator Wendy Davis.

In a concession speech on Tuesday night, Abbott said he had congratulated Hinojosa. He thanked his staff and family for allowing him to serve for 12 years. Abbott stated, “I love our state. It has been an honor to serve it.”

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social after the news broke. He wrote that Abbott would not have lost if he had not become a RINO in the last six months of his political life. Trump added, “He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty!”

Hinojosa’s victory is part of a wider shift in Texas politics. Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in a closely watched Senate race. Talarico became the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas in more than 30 years.