Hinojosa stages empty lectern at Texas governor’s mansion amid Abbott debate snub

Texas gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa (D) spoke next to an empty lectern in front of the Lone Star State’s governor’s mansion Thursday after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) did not accept her debate invitation.

“I guess the governor is a no-show, which is not surprising because he has been a no-show for Texans for years,” Hinojosa said after Abbott did not appear at the event.

The Democratic nominee accused the governor of shutting down the street in front of the executive residence where she originally planned to host the debate.

“If Greg Abbott’s not man enough to debate me then he doesn’t deserve to be the governor of Texas,” Hinojosa told the crowd.

Texas Democratic Party spokesperson Jacob Long slammed the Republican governor for his refusal to debate the Democratic challenger in a statement Thursday afternoon.

“The contrast in this race could not be more clear,” Long said. “Gina Hinojosa is traveling the state, hosting more than 150 public events and meeting directly with thousands of voters in their homes and in their communities. The only people who seem to have access to Greg Abbott are the billionaire donors lining his pockets.”

At one point during the Thursday event, independent gubernatorial candidate Jenn Mack took the stage and stood behind the second lectern, according to a video clip shared online by a local Fox 7 Austin reporter.

“You came to debate Abbott on his record, and I came to debate both of you on your records,” Mack said, eliciting loud boos from the crowd.

Mack was later escorted away from the podium by an officer and another man.

Abbott’s campaign criticized this moment in a social media post , sharing a video of Mack’s removal from the stage.

“The misogyny shown toward a candidate who came to debate proves how insincere and hypocritical Gina Hinojosa is,” the campaign said in a statement.

Additionally, the Republican’s reelection campaign accused the event of not being a “sincere attempt to debate,” pointing to the fact that the empty lectern — a standing podium only reachable by stairs — was inaccessible to Abbott, who uses a wheelchair.

In a statement to The Hill, Hinojosa’s campaign spokesperson Tommy Kubitschek noted the Democratic candidate had agreed to four other debates with news outlets, while her Republican candidate hadn’t accepted any debate invitations.

Kubitschek said Hinojosa’s campaign gave Abbott a week to accept Thursday’s debate challenge outside of the governor’s mansion but received no response from his campaign.

“This was an entirely sincere attempt to allow Texans to hear two different plans for the state’s future, and Abbott has had every opportunity a candidate could hope for to engage in good faith discussion,” he said.

During a campaign stop Thursday in Tyler, Abbott defended his decision not to debate his Democratic challenger.

“The most important thing that a governor can do is to show up in communities,” the Republican said, according to the Houston Chronicle. “What voters want to see and hear, they want to see their governor in their community. They want to have the ability to ask their governor questions.”

Another Texas candidate, Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico, has similarly faced barriers in getting his Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, to meet him on the debate stage.

On Wednesday evening, Talarico participated in a town hall in Fort Worth hosted by CNN and Jubilee. CNN said they extended a similar offer to Paxton but had not heard back from the Republican’s campaign.

Polling shows both Talarico and Hinojosa locked in competitive races against their Republican opponents. Abbott is running for a fourth term in the Texas governor’s mansion.

A Marist University poll released Wednesday showed Abbott with a 4-point advantage among likely Texas voters — a lead that fell within the survey’s margin of error. In the same poll, 47 percent of respondents backed Talarico, while 45 percent supported Paxton in the Senate contest.