Democrat Gina Hinojosa takes down Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in stunning result

Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa has defeated Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a three-term Republican, NBC News projects, wresting control of the red-state governorship from Republicans for the first time since 1995. Hinojosa’s projected victory, which will make her the state’s first Hispanic governor, comes after Abbott’s campaign outspent her by tens of millions of dollars. Abbott, who could have become Texas’ longest-serving governor had he won, initially looked poised to earn another term in what has been a ruby-red state for decades. But changing demographics and a steadily worsening political environment for Republicans across the country and in Texas, where GOP nominees for several offices faced personal scandals and criticism, eventually took their toll on Abbott, too. In a victory speech, Hinojosa said Abbott called to congratulate her and promised big changes coming to Texas. “I want to say something to the powerful people who have gotten very comfortable running this state,” Hinojosa said. “The voters have delivered a mandate for change, and it is change they will get.” Follow live updates on the midterm elections Hinojosa, who was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley, was elected to the state House in 2016. Before she became a legislator, she was a civil rights and a labor lawyer. Education has been a pillar of her political career, with Hinojosa crediting work to stop her son’s elementary school from closing because of state budget cuts as her inspiration to seek elected office. Education funding and reform were big issues in her campaign, as she pledged over the summer that one of her first actions as governor would be to fire the state’s education commissioner, citing declining student performances across Texas. She also criticized Abbott on data centers, a big issue throughout the state, including in rural areas. While Abbott has enjoyed reliable support from rural voters in past races, he faced friction with the voting bloc this cycle over his past support of data centers. Texas is home to over 500 data centers thus far, making it the state with the second-most data centers in the country. Abbott has walked back some of his support for developing data centers; he ordered the state to stop approving data center permits in September, while an audit was conducted of data centers’ effect on Texas’ electrical grid. Hinojosa charged in ads that Abbott was “doing the bidding of his billionaire donors” and that he was “selling out Texas” by supporting data center construction. Hinojosa, who is a fluent Spanish speaker, also connected with Latino voters, who make up around one-third of the state’s electorate, throughout the campaign, both by releasing bilingual TV ads and holding town hall meetings in Spanish. Abbott, meanwhile, hammered Hinojosa for being “radical.” He used campaign ads to target her past support for transgender female athletes and gender-affirming care for minors, calling her “Gender Bender Gina.” “They want to run an entire campaign saying that I’m too woke. I plan to spend an entire campaign focused on the fact that working people are too broke,” she replied in an ad. “That’s the difference. I’m Gina Hinojosa. My pronouns are mom, Texan and soon-to-be governor.” Voters never saw a single debate between Hinojosa and Abbott. Hinojosa criticized Abbott for not responding to debate invitations, eventually staging a debate outside the Governor’s Mansion in mid-October.