IN THE NEWS: Lifelong Texas Conservatives Breaking Rank Over Schools and Data Centers, Voting For Gina Hinojosa

August 25, 2026

Washington Post: “Conservatives and right-leaning independents say they plan to vote Democrat in protest, dissatisfied with how the GOP is handling issues such as data centers, water, electricity, schools and the economy.”

Austin, TX – New reporting from The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times highlights how Gina Hinojosa’s plan to end the data center madness is winning over lifelong Republican voters in rural Texas, while Abbott’s election-year flip-flop has landed him the lowest popularity of his 30-year political career.

For lifelong conservatives, “all that matters is that Hinojosa wants to impose a moratorium on data center projects and Abbott doesn’t,” according to The Washington Post. Hinojosa – who “has hammered [Abbott] on the issue while climbing within a few percentage points in recent polls” – told The Wall Street Journal, “The data-center issue is the latest example of a governor who has been doing the bidding of moneyed interests instead of the people of Texas.”

“It is hard to convey what feels like an invasion by data centers with no rules, no laws to protect Texas,” Hinojosa said to The New York Times. “They’re popping up everywhere.”

The articles also highlight Hinojosa’s new data center ad, “Abbott Intelligence,” which features “a person asking a chatbot why their electric bill is going up. The bot responds it is because of data centers approved by Abbott, who has received millions in campaign donations from executives and companies tied to artificial intelligence, including Elon Musk,” wrote The Journal.

From rural to urban and suburban Texas, momentum is behind Hinojosa, with the race shifting to the left and public polling showing Hinojosa surging to within a single percentage point. On data centers, new polling shows that 75% of Americans now oppose data center development in their communities.

Read more below.

The Washington Post: Texas conservatives are ‘breaking rank’ and pledging to vote Democrat

Twyla Lowry plans to do something this November she could not have imagined doing even a few months ago: She’s going to vote for a Democrat.
That would be Gina Hinojosa, running to prevent Republican Greg Abbott from winning a record fourth term as governor. Hinojosa, 52, has a fairly standard platform of Democratic issues — end state school vouchers, and lower health care, grocery and utility costs. She has even promised to send every Texan $1,500 from the state rainy day fund.
But for Lowry, a retired social worker and special education teacher in this Central Texas city of about 100,000, all that matters is that Hinojosa wants to impose a moratorium on data center projects and Abbott doesn’t.
“He’s pushing for them. Everything’s so shady,” said Lowry, 56, who had voted for Abbott all three times.
Lowry, a conservative Christian and lifelong Republican, said she’s not switching parties. In fact, she plans to vote for Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in his race for U.S. Senate. But her willingness to split her ticket for even one race is a sign the Texas political landscape — at least this cycle — is scrambling in unprecedented ways that could result in surprising statewide wins for the Democratic Party.
A recent Fox News poll showed Hinojosa, a lawyer and state legislator based in Austin, within a point of Abbott, a sign of weakness in a state where the GOP usually boasts a nine- to 12-point advantage. This week, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the governor’s race from “solid” to “likely” Republican.
But now some conservatives and right-leaning independents say they plan to vote Democrat in protest, dissatisfied with how the GOP is handling issues such as data centers, water, electricity, schools and the economy.
Even more unusual is how vocal some of these conservatives are about their dissatisfaction. They’ve adopted a slogan “Break Rank,” an indication that they are not content simply to sit out the election but want to punish their party with a vote for the opposition.
Lifelong Republican voter Tom Weeks met with Hinojosa recently wearing a homemade “Break Rank” T-shirt.
“My party has failed,” said Weeks, 66, who retired from the paper supply business to the North Texas suburb of Granbury where he’s been fighting both data centers and a bitcoin mine that arrived a few years ago, bringing round-the-clock noise.
“Nothing has been done by our party to help,” Weeks said. “Any Republican who has been in office since we started this fight, I’m not going to vote for them.”
“We’re going to vote for whoever we think understands our plight and she does,” he said of Hinojosa.
Rena Schroeder, who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for a state Senate seat last March, recently attended a Talarico campaign event featuring Hinojosa at the civic center in Killeen and said she plans to vote Democrat. Schroeder, who now identifies as independent, helped start a “Break Rank” group that she said has drawn about 100 voters.
“We’re calling it ‘breaking rank’ because of the level of corruption,” in the Republican Party, she said. “We the people are breaking rank.”

Others like Glenda Berg plan to vote for Talarico and Hinojosa.
Berg, 84, a retired bookkeeper and lifelong Republican who lives near Temple in Belton and whose daughter attended the Hinojosa event, said she voted for Abbott and Trump three times but has been “appalled” by the president acting “against what democracy is based on.”
“For Hinojosa to win, she needs to do three things: Win an overwhelming majority of the Democrat vote, which she seems on track to do. Second: Win the support of independent voters by a 2-1 margin, which she seems to be doing. And three: Win at least 10 to 15 percent of the Republican vote.”

The Wall Street Journal: Politicians Who Once Championed Data Centers Are Now Bashing Them

In November, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared his state the “epicenter of AI development” while announcing a $40 billion investment by Google.
Less than a year later, the Republican said he halted approvals of some 1,800 new data centers worth billions of dollars on concerns that they use too much power and water. The move earlier this month drew the ire of President Trump, who this week staunchly defended the centers as an economic engine.
A growing voter outcry over data centers that strain resources and fuel a technology capable of putting Americans out of work is becoming a mounting liability for Republicans and some Democrats in this fall’s elections. Abbott’s opponent in his bid for a fourth term, Democrat Gina Hinojosa, has hammered him on the issue while climbing within a few percentage points in recent polls.
“The data-center issue is the latest example of a governor who has been doing the bidding of moneyed interests instead of the people of Texas,” Hinojosa said in an interview.
Hinojosa, a state representative, said protections should be enshrined in law.
She released a new ad Tuesday featuring a person asking a chatbot why their electric bill is going up. The bot responds it is because of data centers approved by Abbott, who has received millions in campaign donations from executives and companies tied to artificial intelligence, including Elon Musk.

The New York Times: The Data Center Backlash Bursts Into the Midterms

The fight over data centers is suddenly at the epicenter of the midterm elections.
One new ad in Texas begins with someone typing into a chatbot, “Why is my electric bill going up?”
In Texas, the Democratic candidate for Senate, James Talarico, and for governor, Gina Hinojosa, have held recent events about data centers, accusing their Republican rivals of pocketing data center donations while backing expansions.
“Texans are mad,” Ms. Hinojosa said in an interview. “It is hard to convey what feels like an invasion by data centers with no rules, no laws to protect Texas. They’re popping up everywhere.”
It was her advertisement that featured a chatbot being asked about the cause of rising electricity prices. The answer it provides? Blaming Gov. Greg Abbott and data centers.