Democrat Gina Hinojosa Defeats Greg Abbott in Texas Governor's Race

Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in the Texas governor's race, according to an Associated Press race call, which NPR reported. Abbott had been seeking a fourth term. A race call is the news service's declaration of a winner.

Hinojosa, 52, is an Austin state representative and a former president of the Austin school board. She will take office as Texas governor in January 2027. She will be the first Latina sworn in to serve as governor of Texas.

Her win ended more than three decades of Republican control of the governor's office. Texas had elected only Republican governors since 1994. Hinojosa will be the first Democratic governor of Texas since Ann Richards, who left office in 1995.

NBC News and CBS News also projected that Hinojosa had defeated Abbott. CBS described him as a three-term Republican incumbent. Reuters reported that Abbott lost to Hinojosa, a Democratic state representative. Abbott conceded the race to Hinojosa.

The result was described as an upset in AP coverage. Before the election, Donald Trump had endorsed Abbott, according to AP reporting on the Texas races.

Hinojosa entered the race in 2025 by criticizing Abbott as beholden to big donors, according to AP. During her campaign, she made artificial intelligence data centers a key issue, AP reported in July 2026.