Gina Hinojosa: The Civil Rights Lawyer Who Became Texas’ First Latina Governor
Texas has elected its first gobernadora Latina, and a new chapter in the state's history begins
Credit: AP Photo/Ashley Landis | Associated Press
Texans are celebrating a historic milestone: the election of Gina Hinojosa, the state’s first Latina governor. Here’s her story!
Born on December 8, 1973, in McAllen, Texas, Hinojosa grew up in a Mexican-American family in the Rio Grande Valley. Politics and public service run in her blood: her father, Gilberto Hinojosa, once chaired the Texas Democratic Party, and her mother, Crisanta Guerra Lozano, is a legal aid attorney. Hinojosa graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1996 and earned her law degree from George Washington University in 1999.
Before entering politics, she spent years as a civil rights and union lawyer, advocating for Texas families and workers. In 2016, she won a seat in the Texas House of Representatives, where she represented Austin and spent roughly a decade championing public education, healthcare, and civil rights for marginalized communities.
She announced her campaign for Texas governor in 2025, vowing to lower the cost of living and defend citizens’ rights. Now, she’s set to make history twice over: as the first Democrat to win the Texas governorship since Ann Richards in 1990 — the first in over three decades — and the first-ever governor of Latine descent.
“¡No te dejes!” The phrase is a family inheritance. Hinojosa has said it came from her grandmother, who used to scold her with it during summers spent at her grandparents’ home in Mission, Texas. She calls it old-school tough love and translates it as “know your worth and defend it.”
Texas has elected its first gobernadora Latina, and a new chapter in the state’s history begins.
Additional reporting by Anna Ortega.
