Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa is projected to win the race for Texas governor, defeating incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in a stunning upset, CNN and NBC report.
Hinojosa, a former Austin Independent School District board member, mounted a surprisingly competitive challenge in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat or a woman to the governor’s mansion since Ann Richards in 1990. Her win also makes history: she’ll be Texas’ first Latina governor.
As of 11:10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Hinojosa had 57.1% of the vote to Abbott’s 41.7%.
Hinojosa ran heavily on a populist message, calling out Abbott’s billionaire donors and ripping a school voucher program that the governor helped spearhead in 2025. After identifying as progressive in the past, Hinojosa has shied away from that label ― and pointed to “deep disappointment in both…parties” ― while trying to reach disillusioned voters across the political spectrum.
Currently a member of the state House, Hinojosa has focused heavily on education policy, including advocating for more funding for public schools and higher teacher pay. She also made addressing healthcare costs and establishing protections for residents against data centers key aspects of her platform.
“In order to save public schools, in order to have a government that works for us, we had to reach for that brass ring of the governor’s mansion,” Hinojosa said at a Texas Tribune event in September.
Although polling had highlighted the closeness of the governor’s race leading up to election day, Hinojosa’s win over Abbott was still widely viewed as a long shot.
Abbott, who was first elected to his seat in 2015, was running to serve a record fourth term. As governor, he was known for consolidating power in the role and backing hardline conservative priorities, including one of the harshest abortion bans in the country, aggressive border security measures and a gerrymandered state House map.
Hinojosa’s notable victory underscores how much her campaign’s message resonated with voters — and the degree of momentum Democrats picked up this year amid blowback against Republicans under the Trump administration due to the spiking cost of living and an unpopular war with Iran.