State Representative Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic candidate for governor of Texas, is kicking off her general election campaign with a digital advertisement scheduled to air during the NBA Finals featuring the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks.
The campaign’s initial investment is reported to be in the five-figure range, although specifics were not disclosed. A spokesperson for Hinojosa indicated that her campaign intends to maximize its advertising presence by purchasing as much airtime as necessary on all ESPN+ NBA Finals streaming content throughout the series.
Hinojosa is challenging Republican Governor Greg Abbott, a seasoned three-term incumbent with an impressive campaign war chest of $96 million as of February. This ad marks the first advertising effort from either gubernatorial candidate since they secured their party nominations on March 3. While Abbott has directed most of his campaign efforts toward attacking state Representative James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee, he has largely refrained from directly mentioning Hinojosa.
The ad features Hinojosa’s campaign message, which accuses Abbott of prioritizing the interests of wealthy donors over the needs of Texans, leading to what she terms the “Abbott corruption tax,” manifesting as increased living expenses and underfunded public schools. In a creative depiction, the ad portrays Abbott as a basketball-playing puppet, manipulated by corporate figures who compel him to repeatedly mismanage public funds for their benefit.
“It’s a good time to be Team Texas, but Greg Abbott is not playing for us,” Hinojosa voices in the advertisement. “He’s coached by the corporations and billionaires that pay him off. So even when our team is winning, hardworking families across this state are losing.”
The first game of the series, where Hinojosa’s advertisement will debut, is set for Wednesday.
In the ad, Hinojosa states, “I’m running for governor to defend our kids, drive down our energy bills, and bench the billionaires who’ve been running up the score on Texas families.”
While Abbott has not directly addressed Hinojosa’s allegations, he has publicly refuted the notion that campaign donors receive preferential treatment. He has also responded to criticisms from Democrats and public education advocates regarding the GOP’s handling of public school funding in the face of inflation.
“Texas supports our public schools,” Abbott asserted on social media during the previous legislative session, advising followers to disregard “the lies about public school funding” amid discussions surrounding his school voucher proposal, which ultimately passed alongside an $8.5 billion funding package for schools.
Hinojosa, a former school board president and vocal opponent of Abbott’s voucher initiatives, began her campaign with significantly fewer resources compared to her opponent. As of late February, her campaign had $618,000 on hand, having raised $2.3 million over the preceding eight months — a gap in fundraising that is expected to continue through the election season.
The NBA Finals advertising strategy aims to effectively utilize Hinojosa’s more limited funds to engage young male and Latino voters, demographics that have posed challenges for the Democratic Party in recent elections. ESPN has historically attracted the largest viewership among young men, and the campaign believes that the ESPN+ streaming platform offers a prime opportunity to connect with male and Latino voters, who are crucial to the election outcome but harder to reach through traditional media channels.
Recent polling indicates Abbott is leading Hinojosa, with a survey from Texas Southern University showing the governor ahead by 6 percentage points in results gathered from late April to early May. Approximately one-third of respondents in that poll stated they lacked sufficient knowledge about Hinojosa to form an opinion.
