Who is Gina Hinojosa? Meet the Democrat who ended Republicans' 32-year hold on the Texas governor's office
Texas will have its first new governor in 12 years when Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa takes office in January.
Hinojosa defeated three-term Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in Tuesday's midterm elections, becoming the first Democrat elected governor of Texas since Ann Richards in 1990. She will also become the third woman elected and first Latina to serve as governor in the state's history.
Despite her unexpected and impressive margin of victory, Hinojosa was not a household name before the election and most Texans were not familiar with her until recently. Here is what Texans may want to know about the governor-elect.
Despite her unexpectedly decisive victory, Hinojosa was relatively unknown to many Texans before the election. Here's what to know about the governor-elect, her background and her policy priorities.
Who is Gina Hinojosa?
Gina Hinojosa was born in McAllen, Texas, in December 1973 and grew up in the Rio Grande Valley. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin before attending George Washington University Law School, where she graduated in 1999.
She began her career as a civil rights and labor attorney, advocating for fair treatment and wages for workers, according to her campaign website.
Hinojosa entered politics after state budget cuts threatened to close her son's elementary school in the Austin Independent School District. She won a seat on the district's board of trustees in 2012 and was selected as board president by her fellow trustees in 2015.
In 2016, Hinojosa was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, representing an Austin-area district. She is serving her fifth term and sits on the House Public Education and Land and Resource Management committees.
Public education was a central focus of Hinojosa's gubernatorial campaign. She pledged to increase funding for public schools and eliminate taxpayer-funded vouchers for private school tuition. She also vowed to end state takeovers of struggling school districts and replace Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath with an educator.
Affordability was another major theme of her campaign. Hinojosa frequently criticized Abbott, accusing him of prioritizing wealthy Texans over working families and failing to address rising costs.
One of her earliest campaign proposals was a one-time $1,500 payment to each of the state's nearly 32 million residents, which she called a "Corruption Tax Refund." Hinojosa proposed funding the payments through Texas' emergency savings fund, commonly known as the rainy day fund.
She also tapped into growing opposition to data center development, accusing Abbott of allowing the facilities to proliferate across Texas during his administration.
