After working behind the scenes in the Texas Legislature, Gigs Hodges said Democratic lawmakers’ failure to resist Republican bills on abortion pills and bathrooms frustrated her. So Hodges decided to run for the Texas House of Representatives.
“I was just banging my head against the wall,” Hodges said. “I wish there was something more I could do, because I’m so tired of watching this happen and not a whole lot is being done.”
Hodges served as legislative director for state Rep. Aicha Davis, D-Dallas, during the most recent legislative session. Davis’s office authored or sponsored 17 bills that were signed into law. Hodges said her time in the legislature gave her a deep understanding of how to navigate the legislative process.
“I take a whole lot of pride in making that happen, because it was so much work, but it was not only being on top of it, having,” Hodges said. “It is the strategy that I find really important in making any type of progress, whether it be small, incremental progress or big, big steps.”
Hodges is vying to replace state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, to represent District 49, which includes UT and West Campus, and faces an eight-way primary for the Democratic nomination for the seat. Hinojosa is running for governor.
Other candidates include Montserrat Garibay, a former U.S. Department of Education assistant deputy secretary, Nurse Practitioner Kimmie Ellison and Daniel Wang, a member of the Travis Central Appraisal District Board of Directors.
Eugenia Quintanilla, a postdoctoral researcher at the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life, said the race for the seat may result in a runoff election due to the sheer number of candidates. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the Democratic primary in March, a runoff election for the nomination will occur in May.
“The number of voters who (may) ultimately decide the HD49 race will be relatively small compared to the number of eligible voters in the district,” Quintanilla said.
Hodges is running as a Democratic Socialist, a label she has identified with since she was 18 and living in Australia. She said she saw a system where everyone had housing, healthcare, access to higher education and livable wages, a vision she sees for Texas.
Hodges said some of her top priorities are raising the minimum wage ideally to $25 and to fairly compensate healthcare workers, teachers and service workers.
“I think our minimum wage structure is archaic,” Hodges said. “With the cost of living being so high, Texans are not able to make ends meet with one job, I fundamentally disagree with that.”
Hodges said if elected, she would protect the rights of LGBTQ+ members by opposing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
“I will never let an opportunity pass to preserve, protect and defend the rights of the (LGBTQ+) community,” Hodges said.
Hodges said many interns and staffers at the Texas Capitol are often overworked in a toxic environment. For that reason, she wants to create a legislative staff union to improve working conditions and allow staff to be more effective during the legislative session, she said.
“I want to change the culture to make it a healthier culture, so that students and young professionals can thrive, so that when that 140 days of the legislative session starts, we’re ready to go,” Hodges said.
