Democrat Gina Hinojosa has won the race for Texas governor, defeating four-term Republican incumbent Greg Abbott in a result networks projected late Tuesday night and that both CBS News and CNBC confirmed heading into Wednesday. CBS News reported that two sources told the network Abbott called Hinojosa to concede after the race was called around 11:10 p.m. ET.

The win ends more than three decades of unbroken Republican control of the Texas governor's mansion. CBS News said Hinojosa is the first Democrat elected to the office since Ann Richards' 1990 victory, and the first Latina to hold the job. Hinojosa, an Austin state representative who has served in the Texas House since 2017, built her campaign around property-tax relief, public-school funding and abortion access, framing Abbott's long tenure as out of step with a state she argued had grown more diverse and more suburban since he first won in 2014.

Abbott, who was seeking a record fourth term, had outraised Hinojosa over the course of the race but had burned through much of that financial advantage by the final stretch, and public polling tightened sharply in the campaign's closing weeks, with several surveys showing the contest roughly tied. The call capped a brutal night for Republicans nationally: CBS News also projected Democrat Amy Acton's win over Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio's governor's race the same evening, part of a sweep that handed Democrats control of both chambers of Congress.

Trump blames Abbott

President Trump, who has spent the morning reacting to Tuesday's broader midterm losses, singled out Abbott by name on Truth Social. CBS News reported that Trump called the governor a "RINO" and wrote that "he wouldn't have lost" the race, adding that Abbott "went back to his original formula, and it wasn't pretty!"

"He wouldn't have lost. He went back to his original formula, and it wasn't pretty!" — President Trump, on Truth Social, on Greg Abbott's defeat

Hinojosa's victory is likely to reverberate well beyond Austin. As governor, she will have veto power over any new congressional and legislative maps drawn after the 2030 census, and immediate authority over a state government that controls everything from the budget to emergency declarations along the border. Her win also deprives national Republicans of Texas as a reliable launching pad for 2028 presidential ambitions, a role Abbott had been widely seen as eyeing.

Hinojosa's rise to the governorship was not a foregone conclusion even within her own party; she entered the race as a lower-profile state legislator and leaned heavily on grassroots organizing and small-dollar fundraising to close the gap with a sitting governor who had never lost a statewide race.

Transition planning is expected to begin immediately, with Hinojosa set to be inaugurated in January. Abbott's office had not issued a formal statement as of midday Wednesday, and it remains unclear whether he will seek another office or step back from politics after fourteen years as governor.