In a stunning upset in the 2026 US midterm elections , Gina Hinojosa was elected the first Democratic governor of Texas in more than 30 years on Tuesday, ousting Republican incumbent Greg Abbott in an upset that catapulted a decided underdog to national prominence leading the nation’s most populous red state.
She will become Texas’ first Latina governor — and the first Democrat to hold the office since Ann Richards in the 1990s — following a groundbreaking victory that topples one of the nation’s most prominent Republican governors and steadfast supporters of President Donald Trump, possibly accelerating the state’s shift to an emerging battleground.
Jumping in the race with little money or name recognition, Hinojosa engineered a plucky and populist challenge, railing against artificial intelligence data centers and corruption to down Abbott. She also proved that money in politics has clear limits. Billionaire Elon Musk had spent tens of millions for dollars to back Republicans, and Abbott’s campaign had spent $180 million since last year in what was thought to be a safe path to a fourth term. The first Democrat elected governor since 1990 From the start she accused Abbott of prioritizing the wealthy over everyday people and failing to bring down costs. One of Hinojosa’s earliest campaign pledges was a one-time $1,500 payment to each of the state’s nearly 32 million residents that she called a “Corruption Tax Refund.
Abbott said Hinojosa wanted to raise taxes and painted her as a radical and a threat to Texans’ way of life. She said the money would come from Texas’ massive emergency savings fund. “They want to run an entire campaign saying that I’m too woke,” Hinojosa said in one spot. “I plan to spend an entire campaign focused on the fact that working people are too broke.”
