Several polls show the Texas Gubernatorial race has gotten tighter as we approach Election Day, and as a result, political attack ads for and against incumbent Governor Greg Abbott and challenger State Representative Gina Hinojosa. KPRC’s ENOUGH team is breaking down the claims in two of the campaign ads.
CLAIM: “40 different times, Gina Hinojosa voted to raise your property tax.”
Who paid for the ad? The ad disclosure states the ad was paid for by “Texans for Greg Abbott” and shared by Abbott’s campaign.
ENOUGH’s analysis: True, but misleading.
We reached out to the Abbott campaign to ask how it arrived at the claim that Hinojosa voted to raise property taxes 40 times. The campaign provided a list of votes it characterized as related to property taxes. We used this list to compare it to the legislative record.
The ad says Hinojosa voted 40 times against property tax bills, but those votes do not represent 40 different bills. The list provided by the Abbott campaign accounts for 10 bills between 2017 and 2025.
The campaign counted multiple votes on the same bill as it moved through the legislative process, including votes on proposed amendments.
For example, the campaign counted votes related to Senate Bill 1 in 2017 a total of 12 times. The bill addressed the calculation of a taxing unit’s ad valorem rollback tax rate and voter approval of a proposed tax rate. The campaign’s count included votes in which Hinojosa opposed amendments proposed by lawmakers.
During the 2017 debate, then-state Representative Dennis Bonnen, a Republican, said the bill wasn’t about tax relief, “this is a bill that will help provide protection to taxpayers but does not provide one ounce of property tax relief. It’s not intended to and anyone that suggests that is giving you bad information.”
Hinojosa offered an amendment of her own.
We reached out to the Abbott campaign about our finding and the press secretary for Texans for Greg Abbott shared the following statement.
“We agree with KPRC that Gina Hinojosa voted in favor of higher property taxes. Gina had more than 40 opportunities to stand with taxpayers, but she chose each time to increase their property taxes instead,” Eduardo Leal said in a statement. Governor Abbott has delivered historic property tax cuts, and next session the Governor will overhaul the property tax system, saving the average Texas homeowner over $3,000 per year. The contrast in this election couldn’t be clearer.”
ENOUGH’s analysis: This claim is misleading.
Who paid for the ad? This ad disclosure states that the ad is paid by the Gina Hinojosa Campaign.
The ad cites an August 2026 Fortune Magazine article describing Abbott as having spent years courting the data center industry. The full article discusses what it characterizes as a shift in the governor’s rhetoric and approach to data centers.
We went looking for where the governor made this reference and we found a 2025 press release from the governor’s office during the announcement of Google’s $40 Billion investment in Texas. The release states, “This is a Texas-sized investment in the future of our great state,” said Governor Abbott. “Texas is the epicenter of AI development, where companies can pair innovation with expanding energy. Google’s $40 billion investment makes Texas Google’s largest investment in any state in the country and supports energy efficiency and workforce development in our state. We must ensure that America remains at the forefront of the AI revolution, and Texas is the place where that can happen.”
The ad also cites a FOX 4 Dallas report about lawmakers reconsidering tax breaks passed for data centers. The article references a Texas finance senate committee hearing chaired by state Senator Joan Huffman, a Houston-area Republican.
Huffman said during the hearing the passage of two laws in 2013 and 2015 didn’t tell the full story.
“Texans expect us to protect their hard-earned tax dollars,” Huffman said. “As I look back on this and I looked at the votes, I voted for it. I believe most of the people who were in the legislature at the time, it would pass pretty overwhelmingly. But the information we were given, which you’ll hear about today, has completely changed. So, what we thought we were voting for back in 2013 is it’s a much different animal these days.”
Huffman also said she planned to file legislation addressing data center tax breaks.
The ad claims property taxes have increased 85% under Abbott. The claim cites the Texas Policy Research which didn’t respond to our numerous requests for comments.
However, the claim needs important context. Texas property taxes are levied by local taxing entities, including cities, counties, and school districts – not by the governor.
Mark Jones, a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute Fellow, calls the ad ‘disingenuous.’
“The fact that their taxes have increased 85%, part of that’s simply inflation. Costs go up, appraisals go up. But also, largely democratic cities and counties often increase property taxes,” Jones said. “And if anything, if we’re thinking about why property taxes have increased, you have to often look at local government.”
We also contacted two professors at the University of Houston-Downtown for their analysis.
“Property tax levies have increased in real terms since the pandemic, alongside substantial increases in property values. Furthermore, the Texas Legislature has demonstrated that policymakers can influence this burden, particularly through the property tax relief legislation enacted in 2023,” said Daniel Perez Liston, associate professor of finance. “Therefore, both state and local governments have policy tools available to address the rising cost of property taxes. The broader concern is affordability. Homeowners have experienced significant increases in property tax obligations, while wage growth has not consistently kept pace with inflation. As a result, property taxes have become an increasingly important financial burden for many households.”
Perez Liston’s colleague David Branham, professor of political science and nonprofit management, disagreed, calling the claim misleading.
“First, the state government does not have a property tax, so Abbott has never raised it. Second, the figure is not in real dollars (inflation-adjusted dollars). As we know, as property values rise, so do property taxes even though the percentage stays the same,” Brenham said in a statement to ENOUGH. “Consequently, when you are in office for 12 years, property taxes will go up 85% just as property values have done the same thing.”
The distinction is important, although the governor does not directly levy property taxes, state policy can affect the amount Texans pay. The 85% figure also needs to be evaluated based on what it measures, the period covered and whether it accounts for inflation.
The final part of Hinojosa’s ad focuses on the growth of data centers in Texas, claiming the state has 335 facilities, with at least 248 more on the way.
The numbers in the ad deserve a closer look.
Our team has previously reported on the growth of data centers in the state. ERCOT shared with our team information showing more than 300 operating data centers and more than 200 facilities in development.
We reached out to the Hinojosa campaign about our finding, and the press secretary shared the following statement.
“Greg Abbott’s pause on data centers is just words after inviting them into Texas with the richest tax breaks in the country,” the statement said. “Greg Abbott is begging voters to believe his data center lies and hypocrisy instead of calling a special session and putting laws in place to protect Texans and end the data center madness now. Without laws in place, Abbott can easily go back on his promises after election day.”
Both ads contain claims that warrant a closer look. But in those 30-second ads, plenty of context is left out, which might change how people understand the claim.
