Gina Hinojosa vs. Greg Abbott: Could a Progressive Democrat Become Texas Governor?

AUSTIN, Texas — A progressive Democrat from Austin is running closer to Gov. Greg Abbott than many expected in a state Republicans have dominated for three decades, raising an unexpected question seven weeks before Election Day: Could Gina Hinojosa actually become the next governor of Texas?

Hinojosa, a five-term state representative and former Austin school board president, entered the race last year after other Democrats declined to challenge the three-term incumbent. “The conventional wisdom is that no one can beat Greg Abbott,” she has said. “I decided I needed to try.” She won the Democratic primary in March with about 58.5 percent of the vote.

Recent polling has tightened. Aggregates as of mid-September show Abbott leading by roughly 3 to 5 points. A Univision/YouGov survey of registered voters conducted in late August and early September found the candidates tied at 47 percent. An AARP-sponsored poll of likely voters put Abbott ahead 49-46. Other surveys have shown leads of 3 to 7 points for the Republican. Forecasters rate the race “Likely Republican,” though several moved it off “Safe” or “Solid” Republican status over the summer.

Hinojosa has centered her campaign on public education and affordability. She has called Abbott’s school voucher program a “scam” and “welfare for the well off.” She promises to fire the state’s education commissioner on day one, pause the A-F school rating system, and raise teacher pay. On the cost of living, she has proposed $1,500 rebate checks for every Texas household drawn from the state’s rainy-day fund, which holds a record balance of about $27 billion. She has also criticized large data-center projects and emphasized kitchen-table issues over culture-war fights.

The obstacles remain steep. Democrats have not won a statewide race in Texas since 1994 and have not elected a governor since Ann Richards in 1990. Abbott has never won re-election by fewer than 11 points. He holds a massive fundraising advantage — more than $67 million cash on hand compared with Hinojosa’s roughly $3 million as of mid-July filings — and far greater name recognition outside Austin. Republican strategists have dismissed her chances as “wholly unrealistic.” Some Hispanic voters, a group she needs, have expressed skepticism about her prospects.

Yet the national midterm environment, voter frustration over costs, and Hinojosa’s unexpected competitiveness have injected energy into a race once viewed as a formality. Rice University political scientist Mark Jones has called it “the most challenging election of [Abbott’s] career.” If she won, Hinojosa would become Texas’s first Latina governor and the first Democrat to hold the office in 36 years. Early voting begins Oct. 19. The election is Nov. 3.

Gina Hinojosa, 52, is a fifth-generation Texan from the Rio Grande Valley. She was born Regina Inez Hinojosa on December 8, 1973, in McAllen and grew up in Brownsville, attending public schools including Homer Hanna High School. She spent summers with her grandparents in nearby Mission. Her father, Gilberto Hinojosa, is a longtime legal-aid lawyer who later chaired the Texas Democratic Party from 2012 to 2025. Her mother, Crisanta Guerra Lozano, is also an attorney.

Hinojosa moved to Austin in 1992 to attend the University of Texas, where she earned a Plan II Honors bachelor’s degree in government in 1996. She received her law degree from George Washington University in 1999 after spending one semester at the University of Texas School of Law, where she met her husband, attorney John Donisi. The couple lives in Austin with their two sons.

She began her career as a civil-rights and labor lawyer, representing union members (including the Communications Workers of America) and workers in discrimination cases involving race, gender, age, and disability. In 2005 she was part of the legal team that successfully sued then-U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay over campaign-finance violations. She also worked with Catholic Charities, Texas Rural Legal Aid, and the Equal Justice Center, and volunteered with Austin Interfaith on living-wage campaigns.

Hinojosa entered elective office in 2012 after state budget cuts threatened to close her son’s elementary school, Pease Elementary, along with other Austin neighborhood schools. She won a seat on the Austin Independent School District board and later served as board president. During her tenure the district avoided school closures, raised teacher pay, and saw every high school meet state accountability standards for the first time.

In 2016 she ran for the Texas House of Representatives in District 49, a safely Democratic central Austin seat that includes part of the University of Texas campus. She won a crowded seven-way primary and has served five terms. In the Legislature she focused on public-education funding, helping pass House Bill 3 in 2019 that directed more than $11 billion in additional state money to schools, along with efforts to raise teacher pay and reduce standardized testing. She has been among the chamber’s more progressive members. She is not seeking re-election to the House while running for governor. 17GEN4.com

Could a Progressive Democrat Become Texas Governor? Gina Hinojosa vs. Greg Abbott

Austin lawmaker Gina Hinojosa, a Rio Grande Valley native and former school board president, is running closer than expected to Gov. Greg Abbott. Here’s her background and why the 2026 race tightened.