Hinojosa Takes Her Pitch Ringside as Texas Democrats Bet on Hispanic Men

On Saturday night, during Mexican boxing star Canelo Álvarez's fight against Christian Mbilli, viewers on the streaming platform DAZN will see a 30-second political ad from Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic candidate for Texas governor. The spot is titled "No Te Dejes," a Spanish expression meaning "Don't let yourself be pushed around," and it carries the central line of her campaign: "Fight back." It arrives days before Election Day, and it is aimed at Hispanic voters, especially Latino men, who helped deliver President Trump's 2024 victory.

According to her campaign, the ad sets Hinojosa's proposals against what she describes as the record of Gov. Greg Abbott, who is seeking a fourth term. Her side of the contrast includes protecting public schools, restricting the expansion of data centers and lowering taxes. She argues Abbott has put wealthy donors and large corporations first.

The buy reflects a wider Democratic effort to reach Hispanic men through sports and culturally familiar programming rather than conventional political advertising alone. The approach has been tried in another Southwestern battleground. In his 2024 Senate race in Arizona, Ruben Gallego courted Latino men with boxing watch parties, rodeos, cookouts and other community events. He beat Republican Kari Lake and became Arizona's first Latino U.S. senator, even as Trump carried the state by nearly six percentage points. After his win, Gallego told CBS News his strategy was to talk to Hispanic voters as often as possible.

Abbott is working the same ground. His campaign launched a Spanish-language ad portraying Hinojosa as too socially liberal for Texas. Press secretary Eduardo Leal said in a statement last week that her policies do not match the values of the Hispanic community. Abbott has also pointed to his wife, Cecilia, as the state's first Hispanic first lady.

The stakes are large. Hispanics make up about 40% of Texas' population, and they are central to Hinojosa's attempt to become the state's first Democratic governor in more than three decades. A CBS News poll earlier this month showed Abbott ahead of Hinojosa by four points overall, with a margin of error of 3.4 points. Among likely Hispanic voters, though, Hinojosa led by 23 points.

Yet Latino Texans have become a swing electorate. CBS News exit poll data show 55% of them voted for Trump in 2024, and Latino men favored him by nearly two to one. That shift upended Texas politics, turning once-reliably Democratic counties in the Rio Grande Valley into Republican-leaning territory and complicating Democratic hopes that the state might be moving their way.

Asked by CBS News to explain Trump's success, Hinojosa said his message landed with Texans who felt the establishment had failed them. "The reason why Trump won, and why he was able to capture the Latino vote in the Valley and in Texas, is because he said the system is rigged — and he's right," she said, adding that Democrats had been defending an indefensible system that works against people.

Democrats hope the shift is temporary. Chuck Rocha, a CBS News political contributor and Gallego's former campaign adviser, now advises both Hinojosa and Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico. He told CBS News that many Hispanic voters are frustrated by high gas prices and other cost-of-living worries, and that Trump's immigration policies have also caused frustration. "Right now, they're more monolithic than I have ever seen in my life, and they're monolithically mad," he said.

A conservative voice sees it differently. Daniel Garza, president of the LIBRE Initiative, a conservative Latino advocacy group, said there is no pro-Democrat enthusiasm in his home region of South Texas, and that most voters could not say what the Democratic plan is for lowering prices. For now, Hinojosa is betting that one of Mexico's biggest sports stars can help her reach the voters both parties are fighting to win.