By Yasmeen Abutaleb and David Hood-Nuño
WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Rtrs) – Three-term Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott lost to Democratic state Representative Gina Hinojosa in a stunning upset that ends the Republican Party’s three-decade hold on the governor’s office, US media projected on Tuesday.
Hinojosa makes history as the first Hispanic elected to lead the state. No Democrat has won statewide office in Texas since 1994, the longest drought in the nation.It was another surprising result during a strong night for Democrats, who were projected to win control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate with victories in conservative states such as South Carolina and Kansas.
Hinojosa’s strategy hinged in part on persuading Latino voters that rising costs and strained public schools matter more than the cultural war issues that have pulled many Latino voters toward Republicans in recent years.
“We are as Texan and American as anyone,” she said in a July interview with Reuters in Austin. “Latinos are feeling the economic strain just like families all across this country and in Texas in a big way.”
Abbott spent years cultivating support in South Texas, regularly visiting heavily Latino border communities, building an extensive field operation in the Rio Grande Valley and making border security a centerpiece of his outreach.
Hinojosa emerged as an unexpected competitor to one of the best-known and best-funded Republican governors in the country.
Her win comes alongside that of State Representative James Talarico’s victory in the US Senate race in Texas, according to media projections. He defeated President Donald Trump-backed Republican candidate Ken Paxton.
The Democratic wins were a result of Latinos turning out to vote, motivated by affordability concerns and Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement agenda, according to Voto Latino Executive Director Beatriz Lopez.
The organization, which works to register and mobilize Latino voters, registered about 400,000 voters in Texas this election cycle and hopes to carry the momentum into the 2028 presidential election.
“This is a Texas sweep,” she said. “It has literally put Texas on the map as a battleground state – and that changes everything now and into 2028.”
Hinojosa’s win is part of a broader Democratic rout in Republican bastions as voters rejected Trump, his handling of the economy and the war with Iran.
(Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Caitlin Webber, Daniel Wallis and Deepa Babington)
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