Gina Hits Back

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa rolled out a new ad this morning and she hits back and goes after MAGA Gov. Greg Abbott. See the featured photo. Good. The Chron has a story on Rep. Hinojosa on the campaign trail. See how the Chron story starts:

Gina Hinojosa had a plea for the crowd that came to hear her stump in McAllen last week during a swing through the Rio Grande Valley: set aside the culture wars. 

People are struggling to make ends meet, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate said. Some teachers have told her they started donating blood to earn extra money to pay their bills. One left the profession to drive for Uber because they said the pay and insurance were better. 

“Nobody has the luxury of the culture wars anymore,” Hinojosa told the couple hundred spectators, adding: “The only winner in those wars is like 15 billionaire tech dudes who have amassed money, who have amassed power, and who have amassed, it turns out, all of our data in the last 10 years, and they are about to blow up the world if we don’t come together fast to save ourselves.” 

Hinojosa has honed that populist message – everyday Texans v. billionaires – over the last year as she has gone from a virtual unknown Austin state representative to perhaps the most serious electoral challenger that Greg Abbott, the state’s three-term Republican governor, has ever faced. 

She has been buoyed by political winds that are shaping the midterms into a potentially disastrous election cycle for Republicans in Texas as voters fume over rising prices and seemingly unchecked growth of big tech. Hinojosa has pinned the fault squarely on Abbott, who has held the highest office in the state for 12 years. 

From opposition to private school vouchers to data centers and Flock cameras, Hinojosa’s central message is that Abbott has “sold out” Texas to his donors. 

“That’s what this election is about,” she told an energetic crowd of hundreds in her hometown of Brownsville. “Who does Texas belong to?”

Abbott started his campaign for a record fourth term with more than $100 million, an unheard of sum for a state race against an unknown challenger. He has already outspent Hinojosa 10-to-one through September, and that’s only likely to ramp up in the final stretch. 

Abbott has sailed to double-digit victories over every one of his past Democratic challengers. But several recent polls have shown a closer race and at least one tracker, Real Clear Politics, has deemed it a “toss up.”

A September survey, by the Emerson College Polling Center, showed Hinojosa trailing by 3 points among likely voters but narrowing the governor’s lead from August. It also showed her up with key voting blocs, including independents and Latinos, that Abbott was winning at the same point in his 2022 bid against Beto O’Rourke.  

Here is the entire Chron story on Rep. Hinojosa: How Gina Hinojosa became Greg Abbott’s toughest challenger in years.

I am hoping Texas voters are tired of Abbott’s BS. Abbott has had his nose so far up Donald Trump’s you know what, it is physically impossible to dislodge. Rep. Hinojosa has been running an effective campaign. Like I said yesterday, Abbott won’t run on his lousy record, so he is instead attacking Hinojosa.

40 days until election day.

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Way to go to H-Town City Council Member Julian Ramirez. See this from the Chron:

City of Houston candidates and officeholders who miss campaign finance deadlines will face a new enforcement process under an ordinance city council unanimously approved Wednesday.

The ordinance requires the city secretary to file a sworn complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission within five business days when a filer misses a required campaign finance deadline. The city secretary also must post the names of late filers on the city’s website within 24 hours of the deadline and update the list as reports are submitted. 

At-Large Council Member Julian Ramirez, who sponsored the ordinance, said the measure would increase accountability for candidates and officeholders who fail to follow the rules. 

Here is the full Chron read: Houston approves stricter campaign finance reporting enforcement.

Just follow the rules and file your reports on time. It is not that hard, and it is the right thing to do.

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We lost last night and so did the Rangers. We are still tied for first and hold the tiebreaker. 4 games left and all in Sacramento. Who would have thought we would be sitting at 78-80 and still in contention.