Voters ousted Gov. Greg Abbott and elected Democrats Gina Hinojosa as governor and Nathan Johnson as attorney general, according to the report. Hinojosa is the first Mexican American elected governor of Texas, and Johnson is the first Democrat elected attorney general since 1994. Johnson will succeed Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office defended the governor's immigration policies in federal court.
Over nearly 12 years, Abbott spent billions of dollars on National Guard deployments, migrant arrests and border barriers. The report says the Democratic wins came amid national concern about the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, which has led to federal agents killing U.S. citizens and immigrants. In Houston, people left "I voted" stickers at the memorial for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in July.
The report also said Democrats regained support in border counties, particularly the Rio Grande Valley, which had shifted toward Trump two years earlier. Before the election, business owners said arrests and deportations left some construction companies short of workers.
The report said the new officials will have an opportunity to reshape Texas' approach to immigration enforcement. However, they will inherit a system built through spending, state laws, federal partnerships and court rulings that could limit how quickly they can change course.