Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express-News Editorial Boards Endorse Gina Hinojosa for Texas Governor

October 13, 2026

Houston Chronicle: “We’re confident [Hinojosa] will be a smart, pragmatic and resourceful governor.”

Austin American-Statesman: “Texans deserve a leader who will work to uplift the many, not the few. Hinojosa is ready to bring that change.”

San Antonio Express-News: “After 12 years in office, it’s clear that Abbott has come to take Texans’ votes for granted. It’s time for someone who will alter that trajectory in a positive, inclusive way. To meet that challenge, we recommend Hinojosa for governor.”

Austin, TX – Democratic nominee for Texas Governor Gina Hinojosa has earned the endorsements of the Houston Chronicle, the Austin American-Statesman and the San Antonio Express-News. Each Editorial Board endorsement is attributed to Hinojosa’s plan to secure the American Dream for Texans by saving public schools and putting money in Texans’ pockets, and the contrast with Abbott’s failed policies that put corporations first and make Texans pay the price.

“Austinites know Hinojosa as a fierce advocate for public education, at first on the Austin school board and then for a decade in the statehouse,” the Statesman’s Editorial Board said. The Chronicle added, “As a lawmaker, Hinojosa has proven herself to be a smart, pragmatic and resourceful public servant, one who has realized during her decade in office that if she was going to get anything done, she had to work with the opposition, not divide and denigrate.”

“Hinojosa’s hopeful vision is focused on tangible issues that matter to Texans, including affordability, healthcare, public education and protecting communities from unchecked data center expansion,” wrote the San Antonio-Express News Editorial Board. On Abbott’s flip-flops on data centers and education, the Editorial Board added, “To paraphrase her: Can Texans reasonably believe the arsonist will extinguish the fire?”

According to the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board, “An offhand remark as Hinojosa prepared to leave the editorial board meeting stayed with us. ‘I think people are tired of fighting,’ she said. We agree. After a dozen years under the leadership of a governor keenly attuned to the needs of the privileged and the powerful, we look forward to a successor dedicated to serving her fellow Texans.”

Read the endorsements below.

Houston Chronicle: Which Texans does Greg Abbott serve? Gina Hinojosa for governor | Endorsement

When Hinojosa visited the editorial board a few weeks ago, the descriptor “low-key” didn’t come to mind. She made a full-throated, confident call for change. As with her Democratic cohort, the now-nationally known U.S. Senate candidate, James Talarico, her campaign is riding a wave of Trump fatigue and economic angst that has spread nationwide like algae in a reflecting pool.
The success of her populist economic message — and the fact that Abbott finally deigned to mention her name only recently — suggests that fiery-red Texas might be slipping toward something closer to crimson, or even purple, on the political color spectrum.
Despite the incumbent governor’s advantages — money and name recognition, primarily — the 52-year-old Rio Grande Valley native and five-term House member is within striking distance in most polls.
Now, after decades of near-total dominance by Republicans, a dozen years under one governor, it’s time for a change.
We had an opening question for the candidate who seeks to forge a new approach for the state: Why would we change leadership given how much Texas is growing, how strong our economy is and, overall, how well things are going?
We found Hinojosa’s answer compelling: “That narrative does not match the experience of everyday Texans. Despite the fact that Texans work more hours than the national average, we have the most people without health insurance, we have the most children without health insurance of any state, we have the most people being disconnected from their electricity because they can’t afford to pay their bills, despite the fact that we are the energy powerhouse of this country. We have the most bankruptcies of any state in the union, and that is affecting our small businesses in a big way. Small businesses are really struggling to keep their doors open, and all this despite the fact that our property taxes have skyrocketed under Greg Abbott.”
Hinojosa has a name for those economic burdens those bankrupt businesses and everyday Texans carry constantly. She calls it “the Greg Abbott corruption tax.”
Priorities for what Hinojosa calls her “economic populist agenda” include firing Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath “and putting an educator in that position;” freezing electricity rates and insisting that corporations and industry — including data centers — pay their fair share; and making sure that every Texas child has access to quality healthcare.
Her most surprising priority is to write a check for $1,500 for every Texas household. The money would come from the state’s Rainy Day Fund, now at $27 billion, although in recent history it’s been closer to $10 billion.
“The economists we talk to say it’s so irresponsible to have $27 billion hoarded in Austin,” Hinojosa said. “That money belongs in the economy, working for the economy, especially at a time when working Texans are really struggling. Not only that, but people don’t believe that government can do anything to make their lives easier.”
We asked how a $1,500 check for every Texas household differs from Trump’s proposal to send every American household a check for $5,000.
“We have the money,” Hinojosa said — wryly, but also accurately.
An offhand remark as Hinojosa prepared to leave the editorial board meeting stayed with us. “I think people are tired of fighting,” she said.
We agree. After a dozen years under the leadership of a governor keenly attuned to the needs of the privileged and the powerful, we look forward to a successor dedicated to serving her fellow Texans.
As a lawmaker, Hinojosa has proven herself to be a smart, pragmatic and resourceful public servant, one who has realized during her decade in office that if she was going to get anything done, she had to work with the opposition, not divide and denigrate. We’re confident she’ll be a smart, pragmatic and resourceful governor. Gina Hinojosa has our wholehearted endorsement.

San Antonio Express-News: Gina Hinojosa ready to bring needed change to governor’s office

Gov. Greg Abbott has been in office nearly 12 years — three months shy of three terms.
While the state’s economy has been robust during Abbott’s tenure and its population has boomed, three terms is long enough. At a time of economic uncertainty, rising concerns over the proliferation of data centers and widespread school closures, a new direction is needed.
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for governor, offers that new direction and an optimistic vision for Texas.
Hinojosa’s hopeful vision is focused on tangible issues that matter to Texans, including affordability, healthcare, public education and protecting communities from unchecked data center expansion.
Abbott’s campaign never responded to our invitation to meet.
We’re on board with a large majority of Hinojosa’s ideas for change.
On healthcare, she calls for expanding Medicaid, as Abbott’s failure to do so on ideological grounds has cost the state billions of dollars and left millions needlessly uncovered. She also advocates curtailing bad-faith denials by healthcare insurance providers and helping rural hospitals remain viable in communities that depend on them.
In education, she would push to properly fund public schools; the basic allotment had been stagnant since 2019 before the Texas Legislature raised it last year by a meager $55. She would also push back against further expanding the state’s private school voucher program; the Legislature appropriated $1 billion for it, and 70% of families using them already have students in private schools.
Hinojosa has said the first thing she would do for public schools is fire Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath. While Morath has done some laudable things, his overall tenure has taken the state backward.
Hinojosa told us, and we’re inclined to agree, that a major reason data centers have risen to the top of voters’ concerns is that it is “the physical manifestation of a governor who does the bidding of the moneyed interests, the special interests, at our expense. There are no protections for us.”
To paraphrase her: Can Texans reasonably believe the arsonist will extinguish the fire?
Abbott’s current term has become marked by an eagerness to please President Donald Trump above serving the interests of all Texans. Perhaps no action demonstrated that fealty more than Abbott’s call for a mid-decade redistricting.
“The redistricting fight demonstrates that Abbott will not push back against Trump and will not stand up for Texans,” Hinojosa said before the primary elections.
Unlike Abbott, Hinojosa gets it.
“By lifting up Texans and not punching down on Texans, by being in communities, diverse communities, celebrating with diverse communities, by pursuing an economic agenda that is about lifting, giving more Texans opportunity … I think those are things that bring us together,” she said. “I do think when we put aside the culture wars, I do think there is a lot of commonality that helps to bring us together.”
After 12 years in office, it’s clear that Abbott has come to take Texans’ votes for granted.
It’s time for someone who will alter that trajectory in a positive, inclusive way.
To meet that challenge, we recommend Hinojosa for governor.

Austin American-Statesman: Hinojosa would make Texas’ governor’s office work for Texans

By some measures, Texas is the economic envy of the nation.
But Texans heading to the polls Nov. 3 should ask a more basic question: Is this Texas working for them?
The governor’s race pits Abbott against Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa and Libertarian Pat Dixon. Austinites know Hinojosa as a fierce advocate for public education, at first on the Austin school board and then for a decade in the statehouse. We strongly recommend Hinojosa as the fresh leadership needed to ensure state government works for the benefit of Texans.
“After 30 years of one-party control, and 12 years of Greg Abbott, there’s just been no accountability, and we need to bring that back to government,” Hinojosa told our Editorial Board.
Hinojosa recognizes that opportunity for everyone begins with education, and so would her focus. If elected, she said, she would fire Education Commissioner Mike Morath and launch an efficiency review of contracts at TEA, where a recent audit found stunning administrative bloat that drove up managerial spending 64% in just four years.
Hinojosa would also pause the A-F school accountability system that has become a cudgel against struggling schools. She would reorient the TEA to partner with local school districts that need help, not upend them through state takeovers.
With families struggling and Texas’ rainy-day fund topping $27 billion, Hinojosa would also ask the Legislature to fund a one-time $1,500 payment to each Texas household. It’s hard not to wonder why Abbott didn’t think of this downright conservative idea: returning surplus revenue to the taxpayers who provided it.
“We need to rebuild trust,” Hinojosa told us. “We need to show people that government can do something to make our lives a little easier.”
That will take more than campaign promises or even a $1,500 check. But a change in the governor’s mansion would be a good start.
If elected, Hinojosa would be a Democratic governor working with a Republican-majority Legislature — reestablishing a balance of power that could keep both parties in check. Neither could steamroll over the other. That could encourage both parties to govern with an eye toward compromise and the common good.
Texans would be the beneficiaries.
After 12 years of Abbott’s tenure as governor, Texans deserve a leader who will work to uplift the many, not the few. Hinojosa is ready to bring that change. We recommend voters pick her Nov. 3.

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