“Thank you, Texas! I am honored to be your Democratic nominee for Governor of our beautiful state. Together, we’re going to take on corruption and it’s going to be a new day in TX,” she said in a post on X after winning the nomination. “You have put your faith in me, and I promise to put my all into fighting for you and your families. On to November!”

Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin congratulated her on the win, pledging the party’s full support.

“Rep. Hinojosa has fought valiantly for working Texans across the state and stood up to GOP extremism during her time in the Texas House,” he said in a post on X. “She has the DNC’s full support as she runs for governor. Let’s get her elected!”

Hinojosa is the daughter of former Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa, 73, who ran the Texas Democratic Party from 2012 to 2025 — a period of significant losses for the organization. Her sister is Xochitl Hinojosa, the former director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs and the 2020 Democratic National Convention speaker.

Gina Hinojosa got her start as a civil rights and labor attorney, a career she has highlighted to boost her image as a left-wing populist. She’s used her law degree to serve as a “corruption watchdog,” as her website puts it, with her first major breakthrough being when she was part of the legal team that sued House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in 2005 on money laundering charges.

In her own telling, Hinojosa claims she never planned to run for office but was forced to after her son’s public elementary school faced closure due to state budget cuts. She was elected to the Austin Independent School District board in 2012, then appointed board president in 2015 for her work in keeping the school open, along with every other public school in the district. She was elected to the state legislature in 2016.

Notably, Hinojosa doesn’t mention her status as coming from an established political family, instead portraying herself as a former apolitical mother who was forced into politics by the actions of Republicans.

Her campaign message reflects the Democratic Party’s pivot to a more centrist approach to social issues after their crushing losses in 2024. Her campaign website is bereft of anything noticeably “woke,” with her only priorities listed as “Quality and Accessible Healthcare for All Texans,” “An Affordable Texas that Works for Everyone,” and “Back-to-Basics Education.” Even immigration was in the shadows, with no mention on the website’s front page, priorities page, or in her life story.

The absence of any reference to LGBT issues and transgenderism, particularly, is notable, as her support for transgender issues has featured prominently throughout her political career until recently. In May 2021, she waved a transgender pride flag on the state legislature floor to oppose a bill that would restrict transgender children from participating in sports not matching their sex.

Hinojosa’s attacks on Abbott have centered on his alleged “corruption” and accusations that he serves billionaires.

Abbott, meanwhile, blew his primary competition out of the water, claiming over 80% of the Republican vote. He immediately set his sights on November.

FOUR TAKEAWAYS FROM THE FIRST PRIMARY ELECTION OF 2026

“There are activists and liberal politicians who want to turn Texas into a socialist state with more government, more regulation and less freedom, and that will not happen on our watch,” Abbott said in a statement obtained by the Texas Tribune. “We are going to uphold the values our great state was built on, and we’re going to fight to keep Texas, Texas.”

Hinojosa faces a difficult feat, with Texas continuing its rightward shift. Abbott readily beat his last challenger, former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, in 2022 by over 10 percentage points. President Donald Trump beat former Vice President Kamala Harris by an even greater margin in 2024.