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Democratic candidate for governor Gina Hinojosa, a state representative from Austin.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
MURPHY \u2013 For much of her campaign for governor, Gina Hinojosa<\/a> says most Texans didn\u2019t know who she was.<\/p>\n Months of crisscrossing Texas has changed that. The Democratic state representative says she is finally getting the recognition needed to take on Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still have people to reach, and I have no doubt that we\u2019ll do it,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Now she\u2019s trying to turn that into votes against a three-term Republican with a political fund topping $100 million. Her pitch: Texans are paying more while wealthy donors and corporate interests profit from Abbott\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n In a joint interview <\/a>with The Dallas Morning News and NBC 5 that aired Sunday, Hinojosa pointed to electricity disconnections, bankruptcies and uninsured children as evidence of what she called Abbott\u2019s failures.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is Greg Abbott\u2019s record,\u201d she said at an ice cream shop in Murphy, northeast of Dallas in Collin County. \u201cHe owns it because he\u2019s been doing the bidding of the money interests and not making it in Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n Hinojosa said her \u201cSecure the American Dream<\/a>\u201d agenda would include a $1,500 payment to Texas households, greater access to healthcare, protections against surprise medical billing, electricity rate controls and property tax cuts.<\/p>\n Abbott has rejected her criticism and sought to turn the affordability argument against Hinojosa, accusing her of supporting higher taxes in the Legislature.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n His campaign also has called her \u201csoft on crime,\u201d citing votes against Rio Grande barriers and her absence from a vote to deny bail to immigrants in the country without authorization who commit serious crimes.<\/p>\n With early voting in two weeks, the fight has intensified on television.\u00a0<\/p>\n Abbott is spending $12 million on an ad accusing Hinojosa of voting 40 times to raise property taxes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hinojosa disputes that characterization and recently sent cease-and-desist letters to stations airing the ad, demanding they stop<\/a> running it and retract or correct what her attorneys called false and defamatory claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n Abbott\u2019s campaign and legal teams defended the ad as accurate.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Closing the gap<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s race wasn\u2019t expected to be much of a contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n Abbott entered the year seeking an unprecedented fourth term with a massive financial advantage, while Hinojosa was seen as a long shot, little known outside her Austin legislative district.<\/p>\n But Hinojosa said she has gained ground as Democrats have become more competitive, led by state Rep. James Talarico\u2019s run for the Senate against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.<\/p>\n Abbott has responded by spending heavily to define his opponent as a liberal out of step with Texas. He has dismissed signs of a tightening race, saying \u201cpolls don\u2019t win elections, and polls are often wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hinojosa said Abbott had spent $39 million on paid communications, compared with $3 million by her campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more money he spends, the better I do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Hinojosa said Texans have grown tired of Abbott. \u201cPeople know who he is. They know what he is about, and that is his problem,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In the interview with Lone Star Politics, Hinojosa derided Abbott\u2019s Operation Lone Star, the multibillion-dollar state effort that deployed National Guard troops and state police to the Texas-Mexico border, as \u201cgrandstanding.\u201d But she stopped short of saying whether she would end it as governor.<\/p>\n Instead, she noted her work with federal officials in December 2023 after they temporarily closed rail crossings in Eagle Pass and El Paso during a surge in migrants arriving at the border.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThat was not a dog and pony show. That was not spending billions of taxpayer dollars like Greg Abbott has done on Operation Lone Star. It was actually talking to people to get things done, and crossings plummeted after that happened,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican seeking his fourth term.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2023 File Photo\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n The program, produced by NBC 5 and The News, has invited Abbott but has received no response.\u00a0<\/p>\n School agenda<\/p>\n Hinojosa has made public education a centerpiece <\/a>of her campaign, slamming Abbott\u2019s $1 billion private school voucher program.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n She said he championed that program after receiving millions in political donations from a wealthy out-of-state voucher supporter, calling it an example of rewarding wealthy backers at taxpayers\u2019 expense.<\/p>\n Abbott has rejected that, saying the program expands school choice and gives parents more control over their children\u2019s education.<\/p>\n On other education issues, Hinojosa said she would audit Texas Education Agency vendor contracts, consider four-day school weeks, increase teacher pay and redirect funding from Abbott\u2019s $1 billion private school voucher program to public schools and prekindergarten.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a Democratic agenda. It was the agenda of Texas and the country once upon a time,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to make it our agenda again. We do that by saving Texas schools and putting money in your pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n Data center divide<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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