Hinojosa Beats Abbott in a Historic Texas Upset

4 min read

Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. She will become the first Latina governor in Texas history next year.

Key Points

Gina Hinojosa beat Greg Abbott, ending his bid for a record fourth term.
She will be the first Democrat to lead Texas since Ann Richards in the 1990s.
Abbott outspent her by more than four to one on advertising.

Gina Hinojosa Wins the Texas Governor Race

The Associated Press called the win for Hinojosa, a state lawmaker from Austin. Many observers saw the result as a major upset.

Abbott conceded around 10 in the evening, Central Time. “I love our state. It has been an honor to serve it,” he said.

Hinojosa spoke to supporters within the hour, San Antonio news station KSAT reported.

Good to know. A new governor can change state school, tax and spending plans, but most changes still need the Legislature.

Why This Win Is Historic

Democrats have not held the governor’s office in Texas for more than 30 years. Ann Richards was the last Democratic governor, and she lost her reelection bid in 1994.

Hinojosa will also be the first Latina to lead the state. She is 52 and has served in the Texas House since 2017.

Her victory came on the same night that Democrat James Talarico won the Texas Senate race.

How Hinojosa Beat a Well-Funded Incumbent

Abbott took office in 2015 and won his earlier races by double digits. He started this year with more than $100 million in campaign cash.

His advertising spending reached nearly $118 million. In contrast, Hinojosa spent about $26 million on ads.

Overall, Abbott’s campaign spent $180 million since last year, the Associated Press reported. Hinojosa entered the race with little money and low name recognition. She focused on everyday costs and accused Abbott of favoring wealthy donors.

Her best-known pledge was a one-time payment of $1,500 to each Texas household. She called it a “Corruption Tax Refund” and said it would come from state savings.

4 to 1Abbott’s advertising spending advantage over Hinojosa, according to KSAT.

Which state issue affects you most?

Living costs
Schools
Property taxes
Something else

Free updates

Join the Digieh list

Be the first to know when our weekly brief launches.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Read our Privacy Policy.

Key Issues in the Race

Issue	Hinojosa’s position
Cost of living	One-time $1,500 refund per household
School vouchers	End Abbott’s $1 billion private school voucher program
Data centers	Opposed rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers
Education leadership	Replace Education Commissioner Mike Morath

Abbott answered some of her attacks during the campaign. For example, he paused new approvals for data centers after Hinojosa raised the issue.

He also called her too radical for Texas. Her past support for transgender rights became a focus of his attacks.

She once served as vice chair of the Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus. In one ad, Hinojosa pushed back, saying her rivals claimed she was “too woke.”