Religion / Church-State
Greg Abbott (R)
Abbott has signed the most aggressive church-state package in modern Texas history. On June 21, 2025, he signed SB 10, requiring every public school classroom to display a 16-by-20-inch poster of the Ten Commandments starting with the 2025-26 school year; the state pledged to defend districts in court and pay any judgments, and the Fifth Circuit ultimately upheld the law on April 21, 2026, after U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction against eleven districts in August 2025. That same day he signed SB 11, authorizing school boards to set aside time for prayer and Bible reading. In 2023 he signed SB 763, allowing uncertified chaplains to serve as school counselors without state-mandated training. Abbott has not publicly objected to any of the constitutional challenges and has framed the laws as parental-rights protections.
Gina Hinojosa (D)
Hinojosa voted against SB 10 in 2025, the bill requiring a state-prescribed Ten Commandments poster in every Texas public-school classroom, but during House floor consideration she successfully offered an accepted amendment shifting the cost and burden of defending the inevitable Establishment Clause litigation onto the state attorney general rather than individual school districts — language adopted with no recorded vote. She also voted against HB 3614 in 2023, which authorized uncertified chaplains to serve as school counselors, and was one of only two Democrats on the House Public Education Committee (alongside Rep. James Talarico) to vote against HB 900, the 'READER Act' library-book restrictions. She has not personally used the 'deeply un-Christian' framing that Talarico made famous on Ten Commandments displays, but her committee and floor votes have consistently aligned with the church-state-separation position. Her campaign platform does not address religious-liberty law directly.
Sources
- Texas Tribune, 'Ten Commandments in Texas schools: SB 10 explained,' May 24, 2025. (full list)
- CBS News Texas, 'Texas Ten Commandments classroom law signed by Gov. Abbott,' June 21, 2025. (full list)
- Houston Public Media, 'Bills on religion in public schools await Gov. Greg Abbott's signature as Sunday deadline looms,' June 19, 2025. (full list)
- Brian Lopez, 'Texas Legislature approves bill allowing chaplains in public schools,' Texas Tribune, May 24, 2023. (full list)
- KXAN, 'Texas House advances bill to require Ten Commandments in every classroom after vote on the Sabbath,' May 2025 — covers Hinojosa amendment shifting defense burden to AG. (full list)
- Brian Lopez, 'Texas House passes library book restrictions; Hinojosa and Talarico oppose in committee,' Texas Tribune, April 19, 2023. (full list)
- Christian Post, 'Texas lawmaker calls Ten Commandments in schools deeply un-Christian,' 2025. (full list)
- Teach the Vote (ATPE), candidate profile for Gina Hinojosa with legislative voting record on education and social-issue bills. (full list)