Greg Abbott Fights to Maintain Lead as Gina Hinojosa Threatens Republican Hold on Texas

Greg Abbott Fights to Maintain Lead as Gina Hinojosa Threatens Republican Hold on Texas

In recent campaign efforts, the Texas governor touts affordability and attacks his Democratic challenger.

Payton Anderson
Payton Anderson
October 26, 2026

Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) is fighting to maintain his 12-year tenure as Texas state governor, starting with his “Let’s Roll” Get-Out-The-Vote event series in East Texas.

Joined by State Representatives Jeff Leach (R-TX) and Keresa Richardson (R-TX), Gov. Abbott rallied voters across East Texas to turn out Republican voters. He touted his record as governor while bashing his “far-left” opponent, Gina Hinojosa (D-TX).

“As Governor, I have taken historic action to keep Texas the most affordable large state in the entire country,” Abbott said. “My affordability agenda focuses on slashing property taxes, lowering costs and making college more affordable.”

The Governor has recently faced criticism for his financial ties to Elon Musk and the data center industry. A recent report also highlighted concerns over data center projects continuing to advance despite Abbott’s efforts to halt approvals pending state audits.

But Abbott continued to argue that Hinojosa's progressive policy agenda would hurt the state.

“Democrats, including Gina Hinojosa, want higher taxes, more government spending, soft-on-crime policies and boys playing in girls’ sports,” he said.

Abbott said Hinojosa is politically to the “far progressive left of Jimmy Talarico,” referring to Democratic Texas Senate nominee James Talarico (D-TX), who served in the Texas House alongside Hinojosa.

While Abbott accused Hinojosa of “zero accomplishments” as a state representative, her record includes work on public education, corporate reform and health care.

In 2019, Hinojosa helped advance the school finance overhaul, House Bill 3, authored legislation establishing public benefit corporations in Texas and sponsored a bill securing more than $1 billion in federal funds for indigent health care in Travis County.

“We cannot allow her to destroy the success we have had in the state of Texas.”

According to recent polling, Abbott maintains a narrow lead over Hinojosa. A Texas Public Opinion Research poll conducted October 15–18 among 969 likely voters found Abbott leading 51% to 48%, a three-point margin.

Payton Anderson

Payton Anderson

Payton Anderson is a reporter for Texas Politics based in Washington, D.C., where she's pursuing her bachelor's degree in journalism at American University. Originally from California, Payton's reporting experience spans all avenues of digital and multimedia publishing. In her free time, she enjoys playing soccer and being outdoors.

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