Gina Hinojosa vs. Greg Abbott: Texas Governor Race on Election Day, Final Polls and When Results Come

Texans are deciding today, Tuesday, Nov. 3, whether to give Republican Gov. Greg Abbott a record fourth term or elect Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa. As of early Tuesday evening, polls in Texas had not closed and no winner had been projected. Libertarian Pat Dixon is also running.

If she wins, Hinojosa would be the first Latina governor of Texas and the first Democrat in the governor’s mansion since Ann Richards lost to George W. Bush in 1994, according to The Texas Tribune. If Abbott wins, he would be on track to pass Rick Perry as the state’s longest-serving governor midway through the term.

When do polls close in Texas?

Polls close at 7 p.m. local time, and voters in line by then must be allowed to vote, USA TODAY reported. That’s 8 p.m. Eastern for most of the state, which is on Central time, and 9 p.m. Eastern for El Paso and Hudspeth counties, which are on Mountain time.

Official returns are posted on the Texas Secretary of State’s election results site (electionresults.sos.state.tx.us). Early counts can swing as large counties report.

Who is Gina Hinojosa?

Hinojosa is a five-term state representative from Austin, a Brownsville native and a labor lawyer, The Texas Tribune reported. She was president of the Austin ISD school board before she won her Texas House seat in 2016. In the Legislature, she made public education her main issue and helped lead opposition to Abbott’s private school voucher program, which became law in 2025.

She entered the governor’s race about a year ago as a long shot. The Tribune reported that she first thought about running for comptroller and that early internal polling had her nine points behind.

Her campaign message

Hinojosa has run on a populist, pocketbook pitch. It includes fully funding public schools, $1,500 checks to Texas families and cutting government waste, per the Tribune. She has also tapped into rural anger over data centers and Flock cameras. She has avoided culture-war fights, saying in one ad that her opponents say she’s “too woke” while she is focused on working people being “too broke.”

Abbott’s case against her

Abbott’s campaign has cast Hinojosa as a high-tax liberal, pointing to her House votes on property tax measures and a constitutional amendment banning a state income tax. It has also attacked her positions on crime and LGBTQ+ issues. Hinojosa has called the attacks “lies.” Abbott has also promoted his own record and affordability agenda in his ads.

What the final Texas governor polls showed

The race tightened in the fall. Polls are not results, and most of these were within the margin of error:

• New York Times/Siena (released Nov. 1): Hinojosa 48%, Abbott 47%, a statistical tie, per USA TODAY.
• University of Houston Hobby (Oct. 18): Abbott 49%, Hinojosa 46%.
• Marist (Oct. 14): Abbott 49%, Hinojosa 45%.
• UT/Texas Politics Project (Oct. 13): Hinojosa 49%, Abbott 48%.
• Fox News (Oct. 1): Abbott 52%, Hinojosa 47%.

USA TODAY noted that Abbott has never won a governor’s race by fewer than 11 points.

The money gap

Abbott has outspent Hinojosa about eight-to-one since she entered the race, The Texas Tribune reported. Elon Musk was Abbott’s biggest donor this cycle, at $5.5 million. Back in mid-October, the Tribune cited AdImpact figures showing almost $100 million in Abbott advertising, compared with just over $16 million from Hinojosa’s campaign.

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