Gina Hinojosa

As Governor-elect she demanded an immediate moratorium on new data centers and vowed to hold Abbott's pre-election permit pause in place until the legislature passes protections. The demand extends a core campaign promise, part of a national wave of voter backlash against AI infrastructure expansion, and she says Texans deserve a seat at the table in deciding whether and how data centers come into their communities.

Markets treated her win as a regulatory shock because Texas holds 27 percent of planned U.S. data center capacity. Jefferies projected her victory could put 13.3 gigawatts of announced Texas projects at risk, and her campaign against data center expansion fed the AI stock sell-off that followed the midterms.

Beyond the moratorium, her platform centers on expanding health care and ending Texas's $1 billion school voucher program. At her final campaign rallies she pledged to fire Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath on her first day in office to protect public schools.

Hinojosa, a state representative, erased late polling deficits to defeat three-term Governor Greg Abbott, becoming the first Democrat elected Texas governor since Ann Richards and the first Latina in the office. Her win headlines a Democratic sweep that also captured the lieutenant governorship, the attorney general's post, and a U.S. Senate seat, and she framed the result on election night as a mandate for change. She campaigned as a populist on corruption and rising costs, reaching Latino voters with community events and Spanish-language ads in a race that drew record early voting.

Days before the election her campaign faced possible Texas Ethics Commission penalties of up to $4,000 over missing disclosure disclaimers on hundreds of paid social media posts. Her campaign director said the posts came from the third-party firm Politiclip without the campaign's authorization.