Latino Democrats urge Democratic Governors Association to invest in Gina Hinojosa as Texas gubernatorial race tightens

Latino Democratic leaders are renewing calls for the Democratic Governors Association to invest more in Texas after a New York Times/Siena College poll showed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa narrowly ahead of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

The poll released Saturday found Hinojosa ahead of Abbott by three points, a result within the poll’s margin of error. This comes as Hinojosa continues to face a huge financial disadvantage compared to the three-term Republican governor. Abbott’s re-election campaign and its Republican allies are spending about 10 times as much as she is.

More than 70 Latino Democratic leaders from across the country sent a letter this week urging the DGA and its chairman, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, to invest $10 million in the The Texas governor’s race. The New York Times was first to report on the letter, which CBS News confirmed.

Beshear, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, has been forced by DGA commitments to first protect incumbent Democratic governors seeking re-election, even though some of those incumbents currently hold strong positions.

Julián Castro, who served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration, renewed his pressure Saturday after the release of the New York Times poll. Castro, a former San Antonio mayor and 2020 presidential candidate, took to social media to call on the DGA and Beshear to support Hinojosa “in a real way.”

“How much more evidence” of Hinojosa’s “strength” in Texas do Beshear and the DGA “need to see before actually supporting her?” Castro wrote. “She can win!”

The renewed pressure comes as Democrats increasingly view the Lone Star State as competitive in the campaign’s final weeks, even as Hinojosa continues to face a substantial spending disadvantage — what some Republicans describe as a “firewall” — in a state that President Trump won by nearly 14 points in 2024.