McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The longtime leader of Texas’ Democratic Party announced his resignation Friday after another election cycle of lopsided defeats and voters making a dramatic swing toward the Republican Party on the heavily Hispanic southern border.
Gilberto Hinojosa, a native of the Rio Grande Valley, has been chairman of the Democratic Party of Texas since 2012. During that time, Democrats won no statewide offices and lost major races badly on Tuesday.
All but two counties along the Texas-Mexico border, long considered Democratic strongholds, turned red for Trump. It included Hidalgo and Cameron, the two most populous counties in the Rio Grande Valley. President-elect Donald Trump easily won Texas by 14 points, which was more than double his margin of victory in 2020 and a sign of waning Democratic support.
Hinojosa said he would step down in March 2025.
“In the days and weeks ahead, it is imperative that our Democratic leaders across the country reevaluate what is best for our party and embrace the next generation of leaders who will lead us through the next four years of Trump and win seats up and down will regain. the mood,” Hinojosa said.
His announcement also came just a day after he apologized for comments he made to Austin public radio station KUT after Tuesday’s election. “For example, you could support transgender rights in all categories where the issue comes up, or you could understand that there are certain things that we’re just going too far in, that a large part of our population doesn’t support. ,” Hinojosa told KUT.
Hinojosa later apologized on social media, saying that LGBTQ+ people in Texas “deserve to feel seen, valued and safe in our state and our party.”
