Gina Hinojosa ousts Gov. Greg Abbott to become Texas’ first Democratic governor since the 1990s, AP and NBC News project

Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday, Nov. 3, denying him a record fourth term and ending more than three decades of Republican control of the Texas governor’s office, according to a race call by the Associated Press reported by NPR. NBC News also projected her victory, in a report published at 11:07 p.m. Eastern (8:07 p.m. PT), and described the result as “wresting control of the red-state governorship from Republicans for the first time since 1995.” The Texas Tribune called the outcome “a political earthquake in a state that has not seen a Democrat sit in the governor’s mansion this century.”

Hinojosa, 52, will take office in January 2027 as the first Latina to serve as Texas governor and the first Democratic governor since Ann Richards, who left office in 1995, NPR reported. Richards lost her reelection bid to George W. Bush in 1994, according to the Tribune, and San Antonio station KSAT described Hinojosa as the first Democrat elected governor of Texas since 1990. A Brownsville native and labor lawyer, she served as president of the Austin ISD school board before voters elected her to the Texas House in 2016, the Tribune reported.

Abbott conceded at 10 p.m. Central (8 p.m. PT), with his wife, Cecilia, behind him, and said he had just gotten off the phone with Hinojosa to congratulate her, according to the Tribune. “There are still votes to be counted,” Abbott said, according to KSAT, “but mathematically, we’re not going to be able to win this election.” He added: “I let Gina know that I would assist her and her team in a period of transition.” Abbott also told supporters, according to the Tribune: “I love our state. It has been an honor to serve it. And know that we are leaving Texas in far better shape than it’s ever been. Together, we’ve accomplished a lot.”

In her victory speech before 11 p.m. Central (9 p.m. PT), Hinojosa told supporters, “We did it. Everything is bigger, including the shock of this win. We shocked the world tonight,” according to the Tribune. “I want to say something to the powerful people who have gotten very comfortable running this state,” she said, according to NBC News. “The voters have delivered a mandate for change, and it is change they will get.” She also promised to work across party lines, the Tribune reported: “We did not end one era of single party rule to usher in another,” she said. Of Abbott, she said, “I want to thank him for his years of service to this great state,” according to KSAT.

Hinojosa won despite heavy spending against her. Abbott entered the year with more than $100 million in campaign cash, and his advertising spending reached nearly $118 million, compared with her $26 million, according to the Tribune. Abbott defeated each of his three previous gubernatorial opponents by double-digit margins, the Tribune reported. Voters never saw a debate between the two candidates; Hinojosa criticized Abbott for not answering debate invitations and staged a debate outside the Governor’s Mansion in mid-October, NBC News reported. Abbott’s ads called her “Gender Bender Gina,” citing her past support for transgender female athletes and gender-affirming care for minors, according to NBC, while he cast the race as a choice between “common sense and crazy,” the Tribune reported.

Data centers and schools shaped the campaign. Texas has more than 500 data centers, the second-most of any state, and Abbott ordered the state to stop approving data center permits in September pending an audit of their effect on the electric grid, NBC News reported. Hinojosa’s ads described Abbott as “doing the bidding of his billionaire donors,” according to NBC. She opposed the private-school voucher program that Abbott championed, which began in 2026 with $1 billion in tax money, NPR reported. The Tribune reported that she has vowed to fire Education Commissioner Mike Morath on her first day, veto any new gerrymandered electoral maps, return $1,500 to each Texas household from the state’s savings account, end the voucher program and force lawmakers to regulate data centers.

President Donald Trump, who endorsed Abbott, turned on him after the loss. Trump wrote on Truth Social, shortly after Abbott conceded, that the governor lost because he became a “RINO” in the “last six months of his Political Life,” according to The Texas Tribune. The Tribune noted that earlier on Tuesday Trump had called Abbott “strong and highly respected,” and that Trump had criticized the state in August after Abbott paused data center approvals; NBC News, by contrast, dates Abbott’s order to stop data center permits to September, and this desk could not resolve the gap. This desk did not pull Trump’s post directly; the wording comes from the Tribune.

How much Hinojosa can change depends on the Legislature. NPR reported that she will likely face a Republican-led Legislature, and David Crockett, a political science professor at Trinity University in San Antonio, said, according to NPR, “Getting any meaningful legislation through is going to require them to find something they can agree on and that's not going to be easy.” Results in the Texas House remained incomplete early Wednesday: Democrats need to flip 14 seats for a majority, and by about 2 a.m. Central only three flips had occurred, though Democrats led in at least a dozen more Republican-held districts, according to The Texas Tribune. “We feel as though we may have control of the House, but we’re cautiously optimistic,” said state Rep. Christina Morales, who chairs the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee, according to the Tribune. This desk will follow the final Texas House count and the official canvass.