Democratic candidate for Texas governor Gina Hinojosa has a strong showing as she faces off against Gov. Greg Abbott, according to a recent Fox News Texas poll.
The new Fox News poll shows that Gina Hinojosa is within 1 point of Greg Abbott
in the governor's race, at 49% to 50%, inside the margin of error. According to her campaign, Hinojosa is winning with “extremely motivated” voters and the key groups needed for victory, including Independents and Latino voters.“Our campaign is getting stronger by the day because my plan is simple: save public schools and put money in your pocket by ending the Greg Abbott Corruption Tax,” Hinojosa said. “For 12 years, working Texans have suffered from Abbott’s record of putting his billionaire donors before
working Texans: $1 billion drained from public schools, skyrocketing costs, and data centers siphoning our resources after getting the most generous tax dollar giveaway in the country.”
Other key findings include:
- Hinojosa leads with Independents +27, Moderate +21, Black voters +71, Latino voters + 16, and suburban voters +5.
- Hinojosa has the strongest net approval of every politician polled at +11, while Abbott fails to build support as he ignores Texans’ economic struggles, with only 16% of Texans saying they are getting ahead.
Abbott has maintained a lighter campaign trail in July, leaning on his substantial fundraising advantage, official gubernatorial responses to summer storms and media appearances.
In a stop in East Texas, he promoted his "Taxpayer Empowerment Pledge," focused on cutting property taxes, and called for a ban on AI data center construction in rural neighborhoods. He also delivered remarks on economic opportunity and job creation and presented a maritime proclamation at the International Longshoremen's Association Convention.
Fox News Poll also shows slim Talarico lead
The same poll shows Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico narrowly leading Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the race for U.S. Senate.
The poll, released Thursday, July 30, found Talarico leading with 51% support compared with Paxton’s 48%. The 3-point difference falls within the survey’s margin of sampling error, the poll noted.
Talarico has the support of 98% of Democrats and 68% of independents, while 89% of Republicans back Paxton, according to Fox News.
The poll also found that 24% of non-MAGA Republicans support Talarico.
The poll was conducted July 23-27 with a sample of 1,006 Texas registered voters randomly selected from a statewide voter file and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Important dates for 2026 Texas election
The last day to register to vote for the General Election is Oct. 5, either online, by mail, or in person.
Early voting starts Oct. 19 and runs through Oct. 30. The absentee ballot request deadline is Oct. 23 for mail requests or Oct. 19 for in-person requests. The absentee ballot return deadline is Nov. 3, by mail or in person on Election Day.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Kristian Jaime is the Top Story Reporter for the El Paso Times and is reachable at Kjaime@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Fox News poll has Texas governor race in virtual dead heat
