_edited.png)
Gina Hinojosa
- Jan 9
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 14
Table of Contents
Background
Mission
Relevant Experience
Notable Positions & Focus Areas
Considerations for Voters
Disclaimer: The information below summarizes candidate-provided responses and publicly available information. “Considerations for voters” are intended to highlight relevant strengths, gaps, or strategic factors, not to advocate for or against any candidate.
Jasmine Crockett U.S. Senator
“So long as we have a Governor that can be bought, we won’t have the Texas that we deserve. I’m fighting back. I’m running to take on the corruption and take back our state.”
Candidate Overview
Background
Native Texan, born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley
Former civil rights and union lawyer
Former Austin ISD school board member
Mission:
Fight back against billionaires and corporate interests, push the state to invest in neighborhood schools, expand health care access, and lower costs for Texans.
Relevant Experience
Current State Representative for District 49
Passed the most significant corporate reform legislation in a decade.
Helped win an investment of more than $11 billion in Texas public schools.
Led on legislation that would reduce standardized testing and provide pay raises for every Texas teacher.
Notable Positions & Focus Areas
Quality and accessible healthcare for all Texans
An affordable Texas that works for everyone
Back-to-Basics education
Considerations for Voters
She organized the House Dem Quorum Break this year
In an interview with CBS News, she said that some of her fiercest allies are MAGA moms who were at the J6 insurrection.
She also stops just short of calling it an insurrection, stumbles a bit, and ends with "in DC for January 6th."
She has a strong record of fighting back, but it was very troubling to see.
Positions
Democratic Values
Stance:
Strongly pro-democracy, with an explicit commitment to expanding voter access, confronting voter suppression, and actively resisting abuses of power regardless of political pressure.
Key Positions & Commitments:
Expand ballot access through vote-by-mail, online voter registration, and automatic voter registration
Protect free, fair, and trusted elections
Oppose voter suppression laws and mid-decade gerrymandering
Strengthen checks and balances across branches of government
Approach to Increasing Participation:
Expand early voting and vote-by-mail eligibility
Implement online and automatic voter registration
Partner with local organizations to educate voters on their rights
Appoint a Secretary of State committed to voter access and election integrity
Democratic Norms & Threats Identified:
Systematic voter suppression efforts in Texas
Erosion of trust in elections
Attacks on peaceful transfer of power and judicial independence
Corporate, billionaire, and tech-driven manipulation of public discourse
Notable Emphasis:
Willingness to take politically risky actions (House quorum breaks) to defend voting rights
Explicit rejection of performative politics in favor of direct action
Healthcare
Stance:
Frames healthcare as a core economic and equity issue.
Key Positions & Commitments:
Expand Medicaid to cover more Texans
Lower healthcare costs by investing state resources more effectively
Strengthen healthcare access for working families
Reproductive Healthcare:
Protect bodily autonomy
Repeal Texas’s total abortion ban
Populations Centered:
Working families
Low-income Texans
Women and people impacted by abortion bans
Relevant Expertise & Preparation:
Legislative leadership on public policy impacting healthcare access
Civil rights legal background
Notable Emphasis:
Frames healthcare access as both a moral obligation and economic necessity
Equity & Representation
Stance:
Explicitly centers marginalized communities and commits to dismantling structural barriers that exclude working families, immigrants, and communities of color.
Key Positions & Commitments:
Expand opportunity for historically excluded communities
Reduce barriers to civic participation
Approach:
Prioritize voices of people directly impacted by policy
Commit to bilingual outreach (English and Spanish)
Meet communities where they are, geographically and culturally
Relevant Experience & Expertise:
Prioritize voices of people directly impacted by policy
Commit to bilingual outreach (English and Spanish)
Meet communities where they are, geographically and culturally
Notable Emphasis:
Deep focus on lived experience as a policy guide, not a talking point
Economy & Cost of Living
Stance:
Advocates for an economy that lowers costs and expands opportunity for working Texans, not corporate donors.
Key Positions & Commitments:
Lower property taxes through fair school finance reform
Invest in affordable housing
Expand Medicaid
Support industries that provide good-paying jobs
Cost-of-Living Focus Areas:
Housing affordability
Healthcare costs
Property taxes
Education-related household expenses
Populations Centered:
Working-class Texans
Young families
Renters and first-time homebuyers
Approach to Economic Policy:
Invest public dollars in public goods
Reject trickle-down economics and donor-driven policy
Work collaboratively with cities instead of undermining them
Notable Emphasis:
Strong anti-corruption framing of economic policy
Texas Issues
Stance:
Focuses on functional governance, disaster preparedness, and rejecting culture-war governance in favor of practical solutions.
Key Positions & Commitments:
Disaster preparedness and resilience
School finance reform
Ending voucher programs that undermine public schools
Approach to Climate Resilience:
Not explicitly addressed in questionnaire responses or on her campaign website.
Relevant Experience & Expertise:
Legislative wins on disaster preparedness
Coalition-building across party lines
Notable Emphasis:
Views state government as a service provider, not an ideological weapon
Education
Stance
Public education is a cornerstone issue and the primary driver of her political career.
Key Positions & Commitments:
Fully fund public schools
End voucher programs
Raise teacher pay statewide
Reduce high-stakes standardized testing
Approach:
Return decision-making power to parents and local communities
Address teacher shortages, especially in rural districts
Invest in expanding the teacher pipeline
Relevant Experience & Expertise:
Former Austin ISD School Board President
Served multiple terms on the House Public Education Committee
Led efforts to reduce standardized testing and increase teacher pay
Notable Emphasis:
Willingness to oppose “fake fixes” like renaming STAAR without reducing testing
Accountability, Ethics, & Leadership
Stance:
Positions herself as an independent leader committed to rooting out corruption and resisting donor influence.
Key Positions & Commitments:
Campaign finance reform
Reducing corporate influence in politics
Full transparency in campaign funding and policymaking
Approach:
Go beyond legal disclosure requirements
Reject corporate PAC money
Welcome good-faith criticism, including from supporters
Relevant Experience & Expertise:
Nearly a decade in the Texas Legislature
Experience confronting corruption within her own political environment
Notable Emphasis:
Frames ethics as daily choices, not compliance checklists
Immigration
Stance:
Supports humane immigration reform rooted in due process and dignity.
Humane immigration reform
Reduce the role of ICE in civil immigration enforcement
Approach:
Reject cruelty-based enforcement tactics
Center human dignity and community safety
Relevant Experience & Expertise:
Civil rights legal background
Representation of immigrant and working-class communities
Notable Emphasis:
Clear distinction between public safety and political theater
Candidate Qualifications
Stance:
Highly experienced legislator with a demonstrated record of turning values into policy.
Key Positions & Commitments:
Govern with independence from corporate and billionaire interests
Build coalitions to pass meaningful reforms
Approach:
Willingness to take personal and political risks for democratic principles
Balances policy expertise with grassroots engagement
Relevant Experience & Expertise:
Current State Representative (District 49)
Former Austin ISD School Board President
Passed major corporate reform legislation
Secured over $11 billion in public school funding
Notable Emphasis:
Proven record of action, not just alignment
Scorecard Summary
Our Score: 19/34
Limited alignment with TMK-Indivisible Waco's endorsement criteria.
Key Positions & Commitments:
Expand voting access through vote-by-mail, online, and automatic voter registration
Fully fund public schools and raise teacher pay
Expand Medicaid and protect reproductive freedom
Fight corporate influence and political corruption
Approach:
Uses direct action when institutions fail (House quorum breaks)
Centers people most impacted by policy in decision-making
Rejects donor-driven compromises, even when politically costly
Prioritizes coalition-building paired with accountability
Relevant Experience & Expertise:
Uses direct action when institutions fail (House quorum breaks)
Centers people most impacted by policy in decision-making
Rejects donor-driven compromises, even when politically costly
Prioritizes coalition-building paired with accountability
Notable Emphasis:
Nearly a decade in the Texas Legislature
Former Austin ISD School Board President
Civil rights and union attorney
Led major wins in public education funding and corporate reform
Deep policy fluency paired with real-world governance experience
