School choice on the ballot? Education becomes flashpoint in heated Texas governor’s race 

Education is a top issue in a heated race for Texas governor, with one expert warning that Democratic candidate Gina Hinojosa is “an enemy of school choice” who could strip away scholarships from tens of thousands of students if elected.

Incumbent Greg Abbott, a Republican who has served as governor since 2015, is facing off against state Rep. Gina Hinojosa. The race has tightened in recent weeks as Hinojosa has gained ground in the polls, and RealClearPolitics recently shifted the race from leaning Republican to a toss-up.

Hinojosa lists only two priorities on her campaign website, one of which is to “save Texas public schools.” Education has become a focal point in the race as Abbott defends his school choice record while Hinojosa promises to roll back school choice in the state.

‘Enemy of school choice’

“Education is a central issue in this race,” Corey DeAngelis, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Heartlander News. “Gina Hinojosa is running to protect the government-school monopoly, not to empower parents,” he said, dubbing her “an enemy of school choice.”

DeAngelis cited Hinojosa’s campaign platform, which pledges to “end the voucher scam.”

“The real scam is trapping kids in failing government schools,” he said. “She would do everything she could to rip school choice scholarships away from more than 100,000 kids and slam the door on the more than 100,000 kids already on the school choice waitlist.”

He pointed to the Texas American Federation of Teachers’ endorsement of Hinojosa, claiming she wants “to lock kids in those failing schools to please the teachers union monopoly that endorsed her.”

“Her platform is to end school choice,” DeAngelis added. “Abbott’s record is delivering it.”

Heartlander News reached out to Hinojosa’s campaign for comment on her education priorities. In a campaign video featured prominently on her website, she says, “Abbott devastated our schools when he passed his voucher scam.”

“Greg Abbott’s voucher scam was never about helping kids – it’s a payout for the privileged,” her website states, accusing Abbott of redirecting money from “5.5 million public school kids” through school choice programs. “Today, 70% of voucher applications are from families who already have their kids in private school, and private schools retain the power to keep everyone else out.”

A strong record of school choice

In 2025, Abbott signed legislation creating the state’s first universal school choice program through education savings accounts. The program had an initial $1 billion investment, allowing eligible families to receive almost $11,000 per student for private school, up to $30,000 for students with disabilities and $2,000 for homeschoolers.

School choice is deeply popular in Texas. Polling from Texas Southern University’s Barbara Jordan Institute released last year indicated that a majority of registered voters surveyed – 63% – supported universal education savings accounts. Across political parties, 78% of Republicans, 64% of independent voters and 46% of Democrats supported school choice for all families, not just low-income families, the polling found.

Abbott’s campaign doubled down on the importance of school choice when asked about the race by Heartlander News.

“Democrats have no meaningful policy solutions for education other than to spend more with less accountability,” Eduardo Leal, Abbott’s press secretary, told Heartlander News. “Gov. Abbott has a robust education agenda that improves student outcomes, retains the best teachers and eliminates unnecessary administrative bloat, while championing school choice because parents – not government bureaucrats – should have the freedom to make the best educational decisions for their children.”

Leal acknowledged the race would “be competitive” and said Abbott was “taking nothing for granted,” with the election less than five weeks away.

Still, a Hinojosa win would be a stunning upset in a state whose last Democratic governor was Ann Richards. Richards won in 1990 but lost in 1994 to future President George W. Bush, the same year Texas elected its last Democrat to statewide office.

(Image credits: Rep. Gina Hinojosa, By RRC1701 – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=171055405; Gov. Greg Abbott/X)