Get you up to speed: Latino Dems urge Democratic Governors Association to put money behind Gina Hinojosa as Texas governor’s race tightens
Latino Democratic leaders are urging the Democratic Governors Association to invest $10 million in Texas, following a New York Times/Siena College poll showing Democratic candidate Gina Hinojosa narrowly leading Republican Governor Greg Abbott. Over 70 leaders sent a letter to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, chair of the DGA, in light of Hinojosa’s significant financial disadvantage against Abbott.
The Democratic Governors Association has been urged to allocate $10 million to support Gina Hinojosa’s campaign in Texas. Despite Hinojosa’s slight lead in the recent poll, her financial disadvantage against Governor Greg Abbott remains significant, with Abbott’s campaign spending approximately ten times more.
Latino Democratic leaders are urging the Democratic Governors Association to allocate $10 million to support gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa in Texas, following a poll showing her narrowly ahead of incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott. Meanwhile, DGA Chair Andy Beshear faces challenges balancing this request with commitments to protect incumbent governors seeking reelection.
What remains unclear — It is uncertain how the Democratic Governors Association will respond to the calls for investment in Hinojosa’s campaign.
Latino Democratic leaders call for investment in Hinojosa’s Texas campaign
Latino Democratic leaders are renewing calls for the Democratic Governors Association to invest more heavily in Texas after a New York Times/Siena College poll showed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa narrowly leading Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
The poll released Saturday found Hinojosa ahead of Abbott by three points, a result within the poll’s margin of error. It comes as Hinojosa continues to face a huge financial disadvantage against the three-term Republican governor. Abbott’s reelection campaign and his Republican allies are outspending her by roughly 10-to-1.
More than 70 Latino Democratic leaders from across the country sent a letter this week urging the DGA and its chair, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, to invest $10 million in the Texas governor’s race. The New York Times first reported on the letter, which WTX US News has confirmed.
Beshear, a potential 2028 presidential contender, has been constrained by the DGA’s commitments to first protect incumbent Democratic governors seeking reelection, though some of those incumbents are currently in strong positions.
Julián Castro, who served as secretary of housing and urban development in the Obama administration, renewed the push Saturday following the release of the New York Times poll. Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio and a 2020 presidential contender, took to social media to call for the DGA and Beshear to support Hinojosa “in a real way.”
“How much more evidence” of Hinojosa’s “strength in Texas” will Beshear and the DGA “have to see before they support her in a real way?” Castro wrote. “She can win!”
The renewed pressure comes as Democrats increasingly see the Lone Star state as competitive in the closing weeks of the campaign, even as Hinojosa continues to face a substantial spending disadvantage — what some Republicans are describing as a “firewall” — in a state that President Trump won by nearly 14 points in 2024.