When you get trounced as badly as Texas Democrats did on Tuesday, it’s time for new leadership.
And the state party chairman acknowledged that on Friday, saying he’s stepping down in the wake of “devastating defeats up and down the ballot in Texas and across the country.”
In a statement, Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said he will resign after the party’s spring meeting in March.
“On Tuesday, the Democratic Party suffered devastating defeats up and down the ballot in Texas and across the country,” Hinojosa wrote. “In the days and weeks to come, it is imperative that our Democratic leaders across the country reevaluate what is best for our party and embrace the next generation of leaders to take us through the next four years of Trump and win back seats up and down the ballot.”
Hinojosa said he’ll be “passing the torch to the next generation” to whoever wants to lead the five remaining elected Democrats in Texas. (Kidding, but only slightly.)
Leading up to the election, Hinojosa and other party leaders tried to cast Texas as a battleground, continuing Democrats’ perpetual dream of turning the state blue.
But, once again, that didn’t happen. Former (and future) president Donald Trump carried Texas by nearly 14 points, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz crushed his Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, by about 9 points.
Democrats also lost three seats in the Texas Legislature and nearly every contested state appellate court race. They also watched Republicans sweep up 10 countywide judicial seats in traditionally blue Harris County.
Hinojosa’s response was to blame this on trans people, which was not a great look.
The morning after the election, in an interview with The Texas Newsroom, he said: “You have a choice as a party. You could, for example, you can support transgender rights up and down all the categories where the issue comes up, or you can understand that there’s certain things that we just go too far on, that a big bulk of our population does not support.”
LGBTQ+ rights groups condemned Hinojosa’s remarks and accused him of blaming the party’s most vulnerable supporters for its failures. He later apologized.
Hinojosa has led the party since 2012 and has previously faced challenges to his leadership.
After Democrats suffered significant losses in the prior midterm elections, two women ran against him in 2022 at the state party’s convention, but Hinojosa ultimately retained his position.
Hinojosa called his resignation “a hard decision” but the best one “for our party,” adding: “I encourage our national leaders and party leaders at all levels to join me in lifting up the next generation in order to unite our party as we take on Donald Trump.”
As you might imagine, the Republican Party of Texas wasted no time in rubbing their victory in.
Party Chairman Abraham George claimed that “left-wing activists” forced Hinojosa out after his transgender comments, adding: “My encouragement to Democrats: find a chairman even more radical and liberal to succeed him.”
“In the meantime, the Republican Party of Texas will continue working with President Donald Trump, Governor Greg Abbott, and our Republican lawmakers to pass conservative policies and secure even bigger wins in 2026.”
