Democrat Gina Hinojosa won election as governor of Texas on Tuesday, defeating Republican incumbent Greg Abbott. Hinojosa is a 52-year-old state legislator from an Austin district, where she has served since 2017. She will be the state's first Latina governor and the first Democrat to hold the office since Ann Richards in the 1990s.
In the same election, Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate race. Hinojosa ran with limited money and name recognition, according to the report, and campaigned against artificial intelligence data centers and corruption. Abbott's campaign had spent $180 million since last year, the report said, and Elon Musk had spent tens of millions of dollars backing Republicans.
Abbott, who had sought a record fourth term, said he called Hinojosa and pledged to help her transition into office. President Donald Trump posted on social media that Abbott had become a "RINO," or Republican in name only, in the final months of the race. Hinojosa told supporters in Austin, "Texas, my faith in you never wavered."