<\/p>\n
Democratic candidate for Texas governor Gina Hinojosa, center, stands on stage with other Democratic candidates after speaking at a rally, Saturday, July 18, 2026, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo\/Justin Rex)<\/p>\n
Justin Rex\/AP Photo\/Justin Rex<\/p>\n
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at the Republican convention Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo\/Julio Cortez)<\/p>\n
Julio Cortez\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
Gina Hinojosa had a plea for the crowd that came to hear her stump<\/a> in McAllen last week during a swing through the Rio Grande Valley: set aside the culture wars.\u00a0<\/p>\n People are struggling to make ends meet, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate said. Some teachers have told her<\/a> they started donating blood to earn extra money to pay their bills. One left the profession to drive for Uber because they said the pay and insurance were better.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNobody has the luxury of the culture wars anymore,\u201d Hinojosa told the couple hundred spectators, adding: \u201cThe only winner in those wars is like 15 billionaire tech dudes who have amassed money, who have amassed power, and who have amassed, it turns out, all of our data in the last 10 years, and they are about to blow up the world if we don’t come together fast to save ourselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hinojosa has honed that populist message \u2013 everyday Texans v. billionaires \u2013 over the last year as she has gone from a virtual unknown Austin state representative<\/a> to perhaps the most serious electoral challenger that Greg Abbott, the state\u2019s three-term Republican governor, has ever faced.\u00a0<\/p>\n RELATED: Greg Abbott is campaigning to make Texas more affordable. Here’s what his plan tackles \u2014 and misses.<\/a><\/p>\n She has been buoyed by political winds that are shaping the midterms into a potentially disastrous election cycle for Republicans in Texas as voters fume over rising prices and seemingly unchecked growth of big tech. Hinojosa has pinned the fault squarely on Abbott, who has held the highest office in the state for 12 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n From opposition to private school vouchers to data centers and Flock cameras, Hinojosa\u2019s central message is that Abbott has \u201csold out\u201d Texas to his donors.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s what this election is about,\u201d she told an energetic crowd of hundreds in her hometown of Brownsville. \u201cWho does Texas belong to?\u201d<\/p>\n Abbott started his campaign for a record fourth term with more than $100 million, an unheard of sum for a state race against an unknown challenger. He has already outspent Hinojosa 10-to-one through September, and that\u2019s only likely to ramp up in the final stretch.\u00a0<\/p>\n Abbott has sailed to double-digit victories over every one of his past Democratic challengers. But several recent polls have shown a closer race and at least one tracker, Real Clear Politics, has deemed it a \u201ctoss up.\u201d<\/p>\n A September survey, by the Emerson College Polling Center, showed Hinojosa trailing by 3 points among likely voters but narrowing the governor\u2019s lead from August. It also showed her up with key voting blocs, including independents and Latinos, that Abbott was winning at the same point in his 2022 bid against Beto O\u2019Rourke.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Nicknames and billboards<\/p>\n The fact that the governor\u2019s campaign is even mentioning Hinojosa by name may be notable. For most of this year, Abbott has instead been laser-focused on James Talarico<\/a>, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate at the top of the ticket, who had much higher name recognition coming out of a competitive primary.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But in recent weeks, Abbott has gone after Hinojosa directly, labeling her as a radical leftist and rolling out nicknames like \u201cGender Bender Gina\u201d and \u201cHigh Tax Hinojosa.\u201d<\/p>\n While Hinojosa swung through South Texas this month, his campaign put up billboards along the highways saying she wants to raise taxes and is weak on crime.\u00a0<\/p>\n The governor, whose TV ads had so far focused on his promise to slash property taxes, has started airing attacks on TV, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gov. Greg Abbott speaks with organizations involved in the announcement and roundtable discussion on Project Watershed 250 on Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, at UTSA\u2019s San Pedro Building in downtown San Antonio.<\/p>\n Andrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n Dave Carney, Abbott\u2019s longtime political adviser, said Hinojosa has a voting record that is \u201cout of step\u201d with most Texans.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He pointed to her past votes against a constitutional ban on a state income tax and against bans on transgender students playing on teams that align with their gender identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cParents don\u2019t want boys\u2026competing against girls. That\u2019s not a partisan thing. That\u2019s not political. That\u2019s a fact. Eighty-twenty, they do not want that,\u201d Carney said. \u201cTexans do not want an income tax.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, he acknowledged that the race is close.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIs it going to be close on Election Day? Yes,\u201d Carney said. \u201cAre we going to win? Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n Honing her message<\/p>\n Hinojosa\u2019s campaign knew it would be outspent from the start, so it set about crafting a plan to use the limited resources it had to introduce her to voters as quickly as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “A good inoculation to what may be $50 million in negative ads is people who feel like they really deeply know someone to make those ads unbelievable,\u201d said Amy Friedman, Hinojosa\u2019s campaign director. She added that campaigns traditionally save until they have enough money to make a big broadcast splash. \u201cSitting around and waiting to see if we were going to raise $100 million to go toe-to-toe with him in Houston and Dallas broadcast was not a risk we were going to take.\u201d<\/p>\n The campaign decided to split the state into regions and run mini campaigns in each to get a better feel for where voters were on the ground, helping craft localized messages around school takeovers, data centers and Flock cameras.\u00a0<\/p>\n It has leaned heavily on social media to get Hinojosa\u2019s name out and hired Fight, a Democratic consulting firm whose strategists have helped craft populist messages for insurgent campaigns, including U.S. Sen. John Fetterman\u2019s successful bid to flip a Republican-held seat in Pennsylvania in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n Supporters listen to Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa at the Eldorado Ballroom in Houston on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n Elizabeth Conley\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n The agency, which also crafted ads for Zohran Mamdani\u2019s mayoral campaign in New York City last year, has focused on messaging that blunts Abbott\u2019s attacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hinojosa\u2019s response to the \u201cGender Bender Gina\u201d label was a digital ad pronouncing her \u201cpronouns\u201d as \u201cmom, Texan and soon-to-be governor.\u201d<\/p>\n Her campaign says it has more in the can, anticipating future attacks from the governor.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Hinojosa has also benefited from some very lucky breaks that make this election cycle unique.\u00a0<\/p>\n The data center debate that erupted this summer, both in Texas and nationally, played right into her campaign themes. In July, she called on Abbott to halt construction<\/a> and bring lawmakers back to Austin for a special session to set rules on where they can be built.\u00a0<\/p>\n Her first broadcast TV ad focused on the issue and ran exclusively in rural markets, part of an effort to win over Republicans and independents \u2014 or at least discourage them from voting for Abbott.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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