Betting on Gina

2026 FRONTeras Magazine 1st Quarter Issue

Starr County Democrats Rally Behind Hinojosa's Gubernatorial Bid

Caro's Restaurant in Rio Grande City has hosted its share of political meetings over the years, making it the obvious choice when the Starr County Democratic Party decided to bring gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa to town on a Monday afternoon. The five-term state representative walked through the door with the confidence of someone who grew up in Brownsville and understands exactly what item to order from a Mexican restaurant.

Hinojosa is running for governor, and her entire strategy rests on one simple calculation: capture 64 percent of the Latino vote, and Greg Abbott's dreams of an unprecedented fourth term evaporate. "Because there's more of us now, right?" she told the room, her voice carrying that particular blend of optimism and challenge that defines Democratic organizing in South Texas.

Abbott's approval rating dropped to 40 percent in August 2025, marking an all-time low since 2014 according to the Texas Politics Project. Hinojosa sees her opening. "People are done with him. They don't like him. So I'm running to win."

The meet-and-greet drew exactly the crowd you'd expect in a county that flipped red in 2024 but still maintains a core of Democrats willing to believe. A who's who of blue guests.

Starr County Judge Eloy Vera made one thing clear: "I can't endorse anyone, but I can endorse the Democratic Party. I can endorse a party, I cannot endorse a candidate. So believe me, I'm 100% behind the Democratic Party." Everyone understood exactly what he meant.

Then the real show started. Gilberto Hinojosa took the floor.

The former Democratic Party Chairman rarely speaks at his daughter's campaign events, but Rio Grande City warranted an exception. Judge Vera is a longtime friend, and Gilberto has deep connections to Starr County. "Last time around, every South Texas county voted for Donald Trump. And now you see the consequences of that." He rattled off what he considers state-level failures—healthcare cuts, rejected Medicaid expansion, billion-dollar no-bid contracts. "What would happen to you if you did that, Judge?" he asked Vera.

"You'd go to jail," came the response.

Gilberto described his daughter using a phrase that needed no translation. "Es peleonera. Le gusta pelear y no se raja."

"I can vouch for that," Gina confirmed.

Her father laid out her political career. Austin ISD school board president in a city that's only 15 percent Latino, elected citywide by a two-to-one margin. First state House race won with almost 60 percent against seven opponents—no runoff required.

Current polling from the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern University shows her dominating the Democratic primary with 41 percent support compared to 6 percent for her closest opponent. Another 42 percent remain undecided.

Gina brought it back to the fundamental equation. "There's a million and a half people in the Rio Grande Valley or more. We're all 95 percent Hispanic, right? We're the ones that are being hurt the most by what's going on in Austin and Washington, DC."

Greg Abbott has never faced a challenge quite like Gina Hinojosa. She's Mexican-American, a woman, and unlike Wendy Davis, who came close in 2014, Hinojosa has something Davis didn't: she's puro 956.

In a restaurant with Grupo Duelo playing in the background, Gina gets up from her enchiladas to work the room. She shakes hands and talks to local people sitting at their booths. She listens to them carefully as they air their grievances about the issues she just addressed in her remarks.

She's coined a phrase for the phenomenon: the "Greg Abbott corruption tax." It's the kind of thing someone from the Valley knows all too well.

Sheriff Rene Fuentes attended. Democratic Chair Jessica Vera hosted the event. Rose Benavidez, president of the Starr County Industrial Foundation, was also in attendance. Rio Grande City Commissioners Ediel Barrera and Rogerio Olivarez Jr. were there alongside Justice of the Peace Eloy Zarate, Jr. These are the people who have remained true to the Democratic Party and want Starr County to be blue again.

The event ended, but the Hinojosa operation continued in the parking lot. Gilberto climbed onto the bed of his pickup truck and started distributing yard signs and steel posts to anyone willing to plant one. Nothing says "we're winning this thing" quite like a former party chairman playing delivery man in the Caro's parking lot.

@Santitos

@salinasmariasantos

Copyright © 2026 Maria Santos Salinas for FRONTeras.

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