Watch: Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa publicly discusses next steps as Democrats transition into power
Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa is set to hold her first press conference at 2 p.m. Thursday since Texas voters elected her and a slate of Democrats to statewide office, ushering in a new regime that will control several state offices in January.
Hinojosa is expected to take questions and discuss “next steps” in her administration, which will wield more power than expected after Democrats swept statewide Republicans out of office and took the Texas House. She will still have to contend with a GOP-majority state Senate, but with Democrats Vikki Goodwin as lieutenant governor and Nathan Johnson set to take over the attorney general’s office, Hinojosa will have allies across state government.
Hinojosa’s public comments Thursday will follow “successful initial conversations” with outgoing Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who was ousted Tuesday in a stunning midterm election that ended the GOP’s decades-long grip on power in Texas.
The coming political realignment will have ripple effects across every issue area and facet of governance. On the campaign trail, Hinojosa promised to give every Texas household $1,500 out of the state savings account, end public school takeovers, roll back Abbott’s private school voucher program, expand Medicaid and purge government of “waste, fraud and abuse.”