AUSTIN, Tx., October 14, 2025: After weeks of speculation, we have now learned that Austin State Rep. Gina Hinojosa is likely to announce that she will running in the March 2026 Democratic primaries to be the Democratic party’s contender against Texas Governor Greg Abbott in November.
Yesterday, Josh Reyna posted on social media that if Hinojosa makes her expected announcement that he will run for her District 49 open seat. District 49 represents parts of Austin and Travis County. Several sources have told us that Hinojosa will be making her official announcement tomorrow. State Democratic Executive Committee member Wesley Lawrence posted on social media that, “yes, she is,” running adding that she “she will announce her run in Brownsville” on October 15. Lawrence told us in a telephone conversation that the “word on the street” in his work around the state is that Hinojosa “will announce” tomorrow.
Together with Reyna’s preparation to run for Hinojosa’s seat makes it almost certain that she will announce.
If she does, she will be joining Bobby Cole, Nick Pappas and Mark White in the March primaries. Her announcement will leave her seat vacant, making Josh Reyna the first to officially announce his run for that seat.
Reyna is César Blanco’s Chief of Staff.
State Sen. César Banco (D-29) was elected to represent El Paso at the Texas senate in 2021, replacing José Rodriguez who did not seek reelection. He previously served as state representative between 2015 and 2021. Blanco’s next election is in 2028.
Blanco controversially openly supported Renard Johnson’s campaign for mayor last year even though an Austin-based Republican PAC funded a significant portion of Johnson’s campaign in the non-partisan election.
In the letter Reyna posted on social media yesterday, he wrote that “Representative Gina Hinojosa has been a champion,” for “progressive causes in the Texas House for the past 9 years.” He added that “with our freedoms, economy, and schools on the line, we can’t waste any time gearing up for the upcoming elections,” to “win against MAGA politicians on day 1.” He closed with “if Gina runs for Governor, I will be ready to take that fight to the House floor, because Austinites deserve a representative who can hit the ground running.”
Reyna has registered the “joshfortexas.com” website address. It was password protected this morning. In an email response to our request for comments this morning, Reyna referred us back to the letter he posted online yesterday.
Reyna is a graduate of St. Edwards’s University and the University of Texas at Austin Law School. He has worked for Blanco since 2017.
Attempts to reach Hinojosa for comment have been unsuccessful.
This is a developing story, and we will update it throughout the day as more information becomes available.
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