Former staffers and fans of the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards are gathering Saturday morning at Travis County Democratic Party headquarters to rally behind Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa, just two days before early voting opens across the state. The event, called “Team Ann for Team Gina,” is being billed as a volunteer effort to reunite Richards alumni and Hinojosa supporters while building enthusiasm for Democrats up and down the ballot.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, organizer Margaret Justus, a former deputy press secretary to Richards, said the push aims to “make new history” and build statewide momentum for Hinojosa and the Democratic ticket. Justus also invoked a lesson from her old boss, saying Richards taught that elections are won by people showing up, not by money. The rally's speaker lineup includes Mary Beth Rogers, a former campaign leader and chief of staff to Richards; Mark Strama, a former state representative; John Donisi, Hinojosa's husband and a former Richards staffer; Samantha Lopez Resendez, a former chief of staff to state Rep. Donna Howard who is now running for Texas House District 50; and Mary Jane Windle, an actress known for portraying Richards on stage.
A Governor Remembered for Defiance and Defeat
Richards served as Texas governor from 1991 to 1995 after defeating millionaire cowboy Clayton Williams in November 1990, according to the same Statesman report. She lost her reelection bid to George W. Bush in 1994, a defeat that, per MultiState Elections, opened a 32-year statewide losing streak for Texas Democrats — the longest active such drought for any political party in the country. Before Richards reached the governor's mansion, she built her political base as a Travis County Commissioner from 1976 to 1982 and as Texas State Treasurer starting in 1982, when she became the first woman elected to statewide office in Texas in 50 years, according to the Texas State Historical Association. She later gained national attention for her keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention.
Richards said she wanted to be remembered for opening government to everyone, according to the Statesman's reporting, which also noted that her family has said she vetoed legislation that would have allowed people to carry concealed handguns, automatic weapons and so-called cop-killer bullets. The family has likewise said she vetoed a bill that would have allowed destruction of the Edwards Aquifer, which serves millions of Texans. Richards died in 2006 at age 73 after battling esophageal cancer. Her daughter, Cecile Richards, carried that advocacy forward as president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 2006 to 2018, a tenure Planned Parenthood says began when she first joined her mother's political advocacy work at age 16.
Hinojosa's Own Path Through Austin Government
Hinojosa brings her own résumé to the race. Before launching her gubernatorial bid, she represented District 49 — which covers central Austin and the main campus of the University of Texas — in the Texas House starting in 2017, according to Texas Policy Research. She previously served on the Austin ISD Board of Trustees from 2012 to 2016, including a term as board president in 2015. Abbott, meanwhile, is seeking an unprecedented fourth term after taking office in January 2015 following 12 years as Texas Attorney General; a win would make him the longest-serving governor in state history, surpassing Rick Perry's 14-year run from 2000 to 2015, per Ballotpedia.
The Statesman reports the race between Hinojosa and Abbott is neck and neck, per recent polling. That characterization lines up with a University of Texas and Texas Politics Project survey conducted between September 25 and October 5, which found Democratic candidates holding narrow, statistical dead-heat leads inside the margin of error across five statewide races, including the governor's contest — a finding Hoodline detailed in its report on five tight statewide races. The poll sampled 861 likely voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.34 percentage points. A separate joint survey from TelevisaUnivision and the Cook Political Report, conducted in late August and early September, found Texas Hispanic likely voters favoring Hinojosa over Abbott by a 60% to 33% margin among 1,000 Hispanic likely voters surveyed statewide.
Record Registration Meets a Compressed Early Voting Window
The rally lands amid record registration numbers. Texas hit a record 19,041,684 registered voters ahead of the November 3 general election, a 2.2% increase over November 2024, according to the Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Early voting begins Monday and runs through Friday, October 30, with state law requiring main polling sites to stay open at least 12 consecutive hours daily during the final week, per CBS News. Voters must present one of seven approved photo IDs at the polls.
The Travis County gathering also fits into Hinojosa's broader statewide push. She launched a 17-stop get-out-the-vote tour called “One Fight” on Sunday in Houston, with stops planned across San Antonio, Laredo, Midland-Odessa, Dallas, Austin, Corpus Christi and El Paso before early voting begins, Hoodline previously reported in its coverage of Hinojosa's El Paso stop. The tour is set to conclude in Collin County on October 29, the day before early voting ends.
