Days before Election Day, Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa will enter the race against a key voting group in the Lone Star State: Hispanic men.
Hinojosa’s campaign plans to air a 30-second ad on Saturday during a match between Mexican boxing great Canelo Álvarez and Christian Mbilli in an effort to appeal to Latino voters, particularly Latino men, who played a major role in President Trump’s 2024 victory.
The ad is titled “No Te Dejes,” which is Spanish for “Don’t let yourself be pushed around,” and reiterates Hinojosa’s core campaign message: “Fight back.”
According to her campaign, the ad contrasts Hinojosa’s proposals to protect public schools, limit data center expansion and lower taxes with what she sees as proposals by three-term Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to prioritize wealthy donors and big corporations.
The ad will run on sports streaming platform DAZN, which airs Saturday’s game.
The ad reflects a broader Democratic strategy to reach Hispanic men through sports and culturally relevant programming rather than relying solely on traditional political advertising.
This approach has been tested on another battlefield in the Southwest.
During his successful run in the 2024 Arizona Senate race, Democrat Ruben Gallego made a concerted effort to attract Latino men through boxing watch parties, rodeos, picnics and other community events.
Gallego went on to defeat Republican Kari Lake to become Arizona’s first Latino U.S. senator, even though Trump led the state by nearly six percentage points that same year.
Gallego told CBS News in an interview after his victory that his strategy with Hispanic voters was to “talk to them as much as possible.”
Abbott has also marketed himself to Latino voters in Texas. His campaign launched a Spanish-language ad portraying Hinojosa as too socially liberal for the country, and press secretary Eduardo Leal argued in a statement last week that her policies were inconsistent with “the values of the Hispanic community.” Abbott also highlighted his wife, Cecilia’s status as the state’s first Hispanic first lady.
Hispanics, who make up about 40% of Texas’ population, could play a central role in Hinojosa’s push to become Texas’ first Democratic governor in more than three decades. A CBS News poll earlier this month showed Abbott leading Hinojosa by 4 points with a margin of error of 3.4 points, but Hinojosa led by 23 points among likely Hispanic voters.
But this group is not as blue as it once was.
About 55% of Latino Texans will vote for Trump in 2024, according to CBS News exit poll data. Latino men support the president by a nearly two-to-one margin. The shift triggered an earthquake in Texas politics, turning once reliably Democratic counties in the Rio Grande Valley into Republican-leaning areas and upsetting Democrats’ hopes that Texas could turn things around.
In an interview with CBS News, Hinojosa offered her own explanation for Trump’s success in winning over Latino voters in 2024, arguing that his message resonated with Texans who feel the political system has failed them.
“The reason Trump won, and why he was able to win Latino votes in Silicon Valley and Texas, is because he said the system was rigged — and he was right. Democrats have been defending an indefensible system that actually works against us,” Hinojosa said.
Democrats hope the shift is temporary. National polls show many Latino voters Turning his back on Mr. Trump Since 2024, Texas Democratic strategists have High turnout in heavily Latino areas provides comfort during this year’s Democratic primary.
Gallego’s former campaign adviser, Democratic strategist and CBS News political contributor Chuck Rocha is now advising Hinojosa and Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico.
Rocha told CBS News that many Latino voters are frustrated with high gas prices and other cost-of-living concerns, although Trump’s immigration policies have also caused frustration.
“Right now, they’re more monolithic than I’ve ever seen in my life, and they’re monolithically crazy,” he said.
But Daniel Garza, president of the LIBRE Initiative, a conservative Latino advocacy group, said there was “no enthusiasm for Democrats” in his home state of South Texas.
“I don’t think most voters can tell you what the Democratic plan is to lower prices,” he said.
For now, Hinojosa is betting that one of Mexico’s biggest sports stars can help her appeal to voters on both sides of the aisle trying to win.