Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa made her pitch to Houston voters Tuesday afternoon on a rooftop at the edge of downtown Houston, taking questions from moderator Don Lemon and audience members at Courier Texas’ “On the Ballot” event six weeks before Election Day.
Hinojosa is trying to become the first Democrat elected statewide in Texas since 1994. She built much of her case around what she called a Republican state leadership that has failed working Texans.
Her central campaign proposal is a $1,500 payment to every Texas household, funded by drawing down the state’s rainy day fund, which she put at $27 billion and said is “being hoarded” in Austin.
“The difference between my plan and Trump’s plan is we have the money,” Hinojosa said to laughs from the packed crowd. “We pay for it. It should be working for us.”
She said voters she meets are frustrated with both parties. “We’re not hearing people are like, ‘Yay team Democrat,’” she said. “We are hearing people say, ‘We are actually disappointed by both parties, and we’re looking at the candidate this year.’”
Hinojosa also took sharp aim at Gov. Greg Abbott, arguing that data center development has “opened people’s eyes” to a state government that she said works on behalf of moneyed interests.
Pressed by Lemon on whether there is corruption under Abbott’s leadership—which earned a laugh from the audience—she said Abbott has steered $1 billion in no-bid contracts to donors, pushed through school vouchers after a record campaign contribution from an out-of-state billionaire, and let gas companies profit during Winter Storm Uri. She claimed Texans pay at least $40 more a month on electricity bills as a result of Abbott’s policies, a cost she calls “the Greg Abbott Corruption Tax.”
Hinojosa said the same moneyed interests are shaping education policy, pointing to “more and more tech contracts” in Texas schools. She also said she would fire Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath on her first day in office, criticizing the state’s takeover of Houston ISD and the district’s plan to convert up to 100 campuses into artificial intelligence-focused schools.
“This is experimenting on our kids,” she said. “No parent asks for this.”
Reining in ICE and combating hate
Lemon also asked about recent Republican rhetoric targeting Muslim and South Asian Texans, citing Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commission. Hinojosa said state leaders are “punching down at Texans because they’re trying to distract from their failed record.”
“With one hand, they divide us into groups to blame one group a week for the problems and the struggles we experience in this state, and their other hand is in our pocket,” she said.
An audience member asked what she would do as governor to rein in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Hinojosa, who is from Brownsville, said she supports border security but that current immigration raids are “making us less safe, not more safe.”
She cited Houston’s own Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was fatally shot by ICE agents on July 7 after they pursued him while in an unmarked car. It was later reported that they were searching for someone else when they stopped Salgado.
The event came two days after an ICE officer in Austin shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan man who was making a DoorDash delivery. Garces Perez was released from the hospital into ICE custody with a bullet still lodged near his spine and his lawyer has said he has not received the medical care he needs.
Hinojosa said Texas should require federal agents to meet the same standards it sets for local police, including dashcams, body cameras and training.
Can Bo French’s opponent capitalize?
After wrapping with Hinojosa, Lemon welcomed State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, the Democratic nominee for railroad commissioner, and Harris County Democratic Party Chair Traci Gibson to the stage.
Rosenthal called the Railroad Commission “the most important agency you’ve never heard of,” noting that it regulates the oil and gas industry, which he said accounts for 30% of state revenue.
Rosenthal pointed to his 35 years as a mechanical engineer in the energy industry and his record in the Texas House, where he has served since 2019. They also discussed Bo French and his racist posts on social media, which Rosenthal called “reprehensible.”
Gibson closed the program, urging attendees to turn out the party’s base and arguing that this cycle could break from past elections in which Democratic voters stayed home. She also highlighted the importance of turning out Black voters and ensuring Democratic nominees are prioritizing outreach efforts to them and investing in Black communities.
“We are the backbone of this party,” Gibson said, referring to Black voters in the majority Black audience in the room. “And so we want to see that same type of investment that we give to the Democratic Party … We want to see that in who shows up into our neighborhoods. We want to see that in monetary investments. We want to see that in how your staff looks, and that is a fair ask of anybody that wants our vote.”
Election Day is Nov. 3.
