The 2026 Texas governor race: Greg Abbott vs. Gina Hinojosa

Hinojosa, a state representative, ran on proposals including a $1,500 check for every Texas household from the state's rainy day fund.^[5] A ReconMR/Siena poll in September showed her ahead of Abbott for the first time, by 4 points,^[6] though later polls were mixed: a Texas Politics Project poll had her up by a point while Marist had Abbott ahead by four,^[7] and a University of Houston poll found his lead had narrowed from 7 points in August to 3.^[2] When Abbott did not accept her invitation to debate, she spoke beside an empty lectern outside the governor's mansion.^[8]

In October Hinojosa sued for access to Abbott's communications with Elon Musk, which had been kept confidential because of their "embarrassing" and "intimate" nature;^[9] a Travis County judge ordered Abbott to let her inspect them, and his appeal paused the order as he called it a "sham lawsuit."^[10] After the election some Republican lawmakers called on Abbott to limit the governor's powers before he left office,^[1] and Hinojosa called for a moratorium on new data centers until the Legislature meets in January.^[11] The Senate race is followed in its own arc, and the data center fight in the arc on the backlash against them.