Gina Hinojosa said she never planned to run for elected office, but when her son’s school was about to close, she felt like she had to act and ran for the Austin Independent School District board. 

After serving as the AISD board president, she moved up to become a member of the Texas House of Representatives. Now, the five-term state representative is throwing her hat in the ring to be the Democratic nominee against Gov. Greg Abbott in November 2026. 

“Let’s be clear, I ran for the school board originally because my son’s school was threatened for closure,” Hinojosa said. “I’ve decided if we’re ever going to have a chance to have the Texas that we deserve, we have to elect here at the very top.”

State Rep. Hinojosa, D-Austin, who has represented UT since 2017 and is an alumna herself, said she is not running against Abbott because she wants to, but because she has to. In a Monday conversation with Evan Smith, a journalist and professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Hinojosa spoke about her educational and tax plans if elected and why she believes she could win the race. 

Hinojosa spoke about legislation she proposed in the 88th Legislative Session that would restructure Texas public education funding and make teacher pay and special education a top priority. During her time as a state representative, Hinojosa criticized Abbott’s school voucher program, which he signed into law in May. 

“These are things that should not be partisan issues,” Hinojosa said. “The problem is Greg Abbott’s donors don’t get rich by paying teachers for their work. That’s the only reason it doesn’t happen.” 

In her campaign, Hinojosa claims Abbott has let major donors dictate his decisions. Outside of just education policy, Hinojosa argued that Abbott has ramped up his executive orders since the pandemic to benefit donors, as he issued 25 in 2020 related to COVID-19, compared to seven from 2016 to 2019. She cited a report from Public Citizen, an advocacy organization that analyzes lobbying influence, that claims the governor has provided his major contributors almost $1 billion in no-bid contracts, which forgoes the public bidding process.

“We needed masks and vaccines,” Hinojosa said. “That made sense, but it continues to this day. It is a gross abuse of power, and now we know it is being used to benefit his own donors.” 

Hinojosa highlighted her plan to cut sales tax in half for small businesses if she is elected as governor. She criticized constitutional propositions currently on the ballot and argued her sales tax cut would provide relief for working-class families. 

“Our small businesses are a priority,” Hinojosa said. “I just voted on some ridiculous constitutional propositions that are nothing but political statements that say we’re never going to tax rich people. Let’s actually do something for working Texans.” 

Despite Abbott winning all his elections by at least 10 points, Hinojosa said this upcoming election will be when the three-term governor is at his weakest, citing a poll from The Texas Politics Project that had his approval at 40%. She said groups that voted Republican in the 2024 election, such as those in rural districts and Latino voters, have reached out to her and expressed concerns about Abbott’s school voucher and immigration policies.

“(Abbott is) underwater with all Texans,” Hinojosa said. “He’s underwater with Latinos. He’s underwater with independents, so he is vulnerable right now. This is the time to strike.”