On the heels of recent polling making the Texas governor race a toss-up, Democrat candidate Gina Hinojosa is rolling out a new ad claiming Greg Abbott focuses on his donors and not Texans.
In an ad titled "The Truth," Hinojosa underscores Abbott’s failed attempts to distract Texas voters from his record of raising property taxes by 85%, shuttering public schools and raising electricity bills by $40 a month to benefit his billionaire donors at the expense of working people.
The ad, which will run statewide, acknowledges Abbott’s statements about Hinojosa and accuses Abbott of selling out Texas communities to data center corporations.
"If you can write
him a big check, there is nothing he will not do for you. No town he won’t sell out, no business he won’t close, no person he won’t leave behind," the ad says.
During several campaign stops, she has included supporters telling their stories about data centers coming into their communities and creating issues with noise, water usage and health concerns.
Abbott claims Hinojosa backed data center tax incentives
While Hinojosa has hammered Abbott's support of data centers, including large tax incentives to bring them to Texas, he countered that Hinojosa supported them as well.
He noted Hinojosa argues she had no role in promoting data center growth in Texas, yet she voted repeatedly in favor of legislation that helped data centers qualify for or expand their tax-exempt status.
"Gina Hinojosa is hiding her true record on data centers from Texas voters," said Catherine Frazier, Texans for Greg Abbott communications director. "Her accusations are a confession: when Gina had the chance to stand up to data centers in the legislature, she repeatedly voted to support their tax incentives while reducing the number of full-time jobs they were required to create to receive them."
Frazier contended Hinojosa's signature campaign issue "is built on denying her own record."
The Abbott campaign highlighted that Hinojosa voted for HB 4038, a 2017 bill that continued the same tax break that the 2015 Texas Legislature previously approved. They also noted that Hinojosa voted for HB 3104 in 2023, which would have expanded the sales tax exemption for large, multi-structure, connected data center projects. The bill ultimately died in the Texas Senate.
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: New Hinojosa governor race ad accuses Abbott of selling out Texans
