Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in the Texas governor's race on Tuesday, Nov. 3, according to The Associated Press. Abbott conceded at 10 p.m., KSAT reported. The AP declared Hinojosa the winner at 11:17 p.m. EST, according to PBS NewsHour.

Hinojosa will be Texas' first Latina governor and the first Democrat to win the office since 1990, according to PBS NewsHour.

Closer to home, Denton County bucked its traditional Republican lean. Early voting results showed Hinojosa leading Abbott in the county with 149,791 votes (50.99%) to Abbott's 140,243 (47.74%), the Cross Timbers Gazette reported. Libertarian Pat Dixon collected 3,565 Denton County votes (1.21%). Those figures reflect early voting totals only; final all-precinct results were still being counted.

Democrats were nearly tied or leading in several other Denton County races based on early returns, the Cross Timbers Gazette reported.

An upset statewide

The result marks a major upset. Abbott had served as governor since 2015 and was seeking a fourth term. He won re-election by more than 10 points four years ago, Time reported. He entered the race with over $100 million in campaign cash, according to KSAT.

Hinojosa, a five-term state representative from Austin's House District 49, won the Democratic primary on March 3, according to the Austin American-Statesman. She previously served on the Austin Independent School District board and has represented her Central Austin district in the Texas House since 2017, according to KSAT.

NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported that Abbott conceded on election night before NBC News projected Hinojosa the winner.

What the candidates ran on

The candidates offered different approaches to education and household costs. Abbott campaigned on property tax relief, border security and expanding school choice, according to KSAT. He championed the state's education savings account program, which allows eligible families to use public money for private school or homeschool expenses.

Hinojosa centered her campaign on public school funding, affordability and government accountability. She proposed a $1,500 payment to every Texas household, which she called a "corruption tax refund," and called for suspending the state gas tax, according to the Statesman.

What comes next

Hinojosa will serve a four-year term beginning in January 2027, according to KPRC. Major changes to education funding, taxes and other laws would require cooperation from the Republican-controlled Legislature, KSAT reported.

Texas had a record 19,041,684 registered voters ahead of the election, a 2.2% increase from the November 2024 general election, according to a news release from Texas Secretary of State Robert Howden. Texas has not elected a Democratic governor since Ann Richards, whose term ran from 1991 to 1995.