Gina Hinojosa has framed her campaign in the Texas governor race as a “post-partisan” alternative to conventional politics, arguing that voters are deeply disappointed with both major parties as she challenges Republican Governor Greg Abbott.
“Right now nobody wants politics as usual. Most of us see that it is broken,” Ms Hinojosa, a Democratic state representative, said.
The 52-year-old civil rights and labour lawyer has represented parts of Austin in the Texas House since 2017. If elected, she would become the first Democratic governor of Texas and the first woman to lead the state in three decades.
However, a recent poll put Mr Abbott ahead of Ms Hinojosa by 52 per cent to 48 per cent. Texas has more registered Republican voters than Democrats and has remained reliably Republican for more than 30 years.
Ms Hinojosa said the frustration had created an opportunity to attract support across the political divide. She described her platform as populist rather than specifically Democratic, with priorities including protecting public schools, improving children’s access to healthcare and tackling high insurance premiums.
“There is bipartisan anger about what Greg Abbott has done to our public schools,” she said, calling the protection of Texas public education a central part of her campaign.
Data centres and rural concerns
Data centres have also become a focus of Ms Hinojosa’s campaign. She said opposition to their expansion was an issue on which Texans from different political backgrounds could agree, particularly in rural and unincorporated communities.
She raised concerns over water supplies, electricity costs and property rights, arguing that local residents needed a meaningful role in decisions affecting their communities.
Ms Hinojosa has also filed a lawsuit seeking emails between Mr Abbott and Elon Musk, who has given millions of dollars to the governor’s campaign. She said Texans needed to know more about the relationship between the governor and Mr Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX.
Mr Abbott’s press secretary, Eduardo Leal, said the governor was focused on improving education, introducing safeguards for data centres, ending sales tax incentives for them and reducing costs for families.
Mr Leal said public education funding was at an all-time high under Mr Abbott and that average teacher pay had increased by more than 30 per cent. He also accused Ms Hinojosa of running from what he called her “disastrous record”.
Despite the Republican advantage, Ms Hinojosa said she remained confident ahead of next week’s election, citing high turnout and enthusiasm among her supporters.
