Gina Hinojosa focuses on kitchen table issues as polls show the Texas Governor's race within five percentage points
Statewide polls show the top concern among Texans is inflation and higher prices, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa said her campaign reflects that.
"Everyone's done with the culture wars. Nobody has, really, the luxury to be focused on this. It's about kitchen table issues. That's what this campaign is about," she said.
A new poll released last week by the Texas Politics Project at UT Austin shows Hinojosa trailing three-term Republican incumbent Greg Abbott by five percentage points, 45-40 percent. 10% are undecided, while 38% of Independents said they're undecided. Two months ago, the same poll had Abbott leading Hinojosa by seven percentage points. In the Real Clear Politics average of polls between June 3 and August 24, Abbott leads by 4.7 percentage points, 48.6 percent to 43.9 percent. The Cook Political Report, which analyzes races, recently shifted the race from Solid Republican to Likely Republican.
Last week, Abbott's campaign began advertising on TV, and the Governor maintains a sizable campaign war chest with about $67 million cash on hand as of June 30th. In an interview with CBS News Texas, Hinojosa was asked how she is going to keep this a tight race as the Governor starts spending on advertising.
"We've closed the gap in half. We cut it in half. We started off in February. That same poll had us ten points down. So, we've closed that gap to five points down," she said. "We still have a lot of people to reach. You will see me everywhere, and you will see us on TV, on radio. You will see us reaching out in all the ways on social media to be able to reach that last voter with my vision for the future."
Among her top priorities is the issue of data centers, which has become a flashpoint in the November 3 election. Like other Democratic candidates, Hinojosa has called on the Governor to bring lawmakers back to the Texas Capitol for a special session.
"The only real way we can protect Texans from all sorts of abuses is to pass laws. The Governor says he's issued a pause on any new data center approvals, but we know that he can change his mind November 4th," she said.
When asked if she really believed Abbott would reverse his pause on data centers, Hinojosa said, "I think most people think that he's going to change his mind or why wouldn't he call us back for a special session?"
Last week, Governor Abbott told CBS News Texas that his pause on data center approvals is working. Before any newly proposed data center can be approved, it must undergo a comprehensive audit conducted by the state's power grid operator, ERCOT, and the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Abbott had previously set up guardrails ensuring data centers don't use water and electricity needed by surrounding communities. The developers must reduce impacts such as light and noise, and they can't be built in rural Texas neighborhoods. Republican and Democratic state lawmakers want to eliminate a sales tax incentive for data centers first approved during the 2013 legislative session, long before the high-tech facilities became necessary and popular to build.
Hinojosa also wants to give Texans a refund. Because the state's rainy-day fund or savings account exceeds $27 billion, she said she has proposed returning much of it to voters. She wants the legislature to pass a bill authorizing the Governor to send each Texas household a $1,500 check. That would require taking $17 billion out of the rainy-day fund and leaving $10 billion.
"I can't find an economist who thinks it's a good idea for the state to be sitting on $27 billion," she said. "It is irresponsible. It should be working in the economy. It is the hoarding of money. In Austin, and especially at a time when people are struggling, working Texans are struggling like I've never seen before. I think the responsible thing is to give it back at this point."
After she proposed it, her idea was criticized by various Republicans on social media, claiming she was trying to buy votes. In response, Hinojosa said, "I'd ask them if they'd vote against it. I've heard some criticisms. I haven't heard a single legislator say they're against it. I invite them to say they're against it."
She said in 2026, Texans want something different.
"People don't want politics as usual. They want a leader who will work for them," she said.
With the Governor launching his TV ad campaign last week, the Director of the Texas Politics Project at UT Austin, Jim Henson, was asked if it would help move the political needle in his direction, as it has during his past three gubernatorial campaigns. Henson said, "Governor Abbott's war chest is the Republicans' not-to-secret weapon. The Governor can spend an enormous amount of money, and don't forget, can raise an enormous amount of money if it turned out that he was somehow running out of money, which is hard to imagine."
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