Scoring · Interests by life stage
Interests of an 18-Year-Old
An 18-year-old's interests are college access and affordability, first-job availability, reproductive autonomy and contraceptive access, a livable climate, gun safety on campuses, and basic civic-rights protection. Abbott's tuition reversal, SB 8, SB 12, and permitless carry cut against those interests; Hinojosa's reversal-of-the-reversal, reproductive-rights restoration, and opposing votes align with them. Abbott picks up partial first-job credit on business climate.
Issue
Abbott
Hinojosa
In-state tuition for ~18,500 undocumented Texas students
Hurts
Helps
Abbott: Hurts · Hinojosa: Helps
An 18-year-old needs college affordability access; Abbott's ending of in-state tuition for ~18,500 undocumented Texas students67 directly defunds that access for a substantial subgroup, while Hinojosa's commitment to reverse the reversal restores it.
Broader college access and affordability
—
Helps
Abbott: — · Hinojosa: Helps
An 18-year-old's college choice depends on cost; Hinojosa's stated affordability priorities (tuition, financial aid)1 track the 18-year-old's interest, while Abbott's record on higher-ed funding has emphasized institutional restructuring over affordability gains.
SB 8 / reproductive autonomy
Hurts
Helps
Abbott: Hurts · Hinojosa: Helps
Reproductive autonomy is acute for 18-year-olds entering college; Abbott's signing of SB 836 removes a core reproductive-autonomy backstop, while Hinojosa's reproductive-rights restoration position protects it.
Contraceptive access
—
Helps
Abbott: — · Hinojosa: Helps
Contraceptive access is foundational for the 18-year-old's autonomy; Hinojosa's defense of contraceptive access maps to that interest. Abbott has not advanced contraceptive-access protections and his broader reproductive-rights record runs the opposite way.
SB 12 pronoun and LGBTQ-club restrictions on campus
Hurts
Helps
Abbott: Hurts · Hinojosa: Helps
Many 18-year-olds are on college campuses where SB 12 restricts pronoun use and LGBTQ student clubs96; Abbott's signing of SB 12 narrows campus self-expression, while Hinojosa's opposition keeps it open.
Permitless carry / campus gun safety
Hurts
Helps
Abbott: Hurts · Hinojosa: Helps
An 18-year-old on a college campus is in a gun-safety environment shaped by state law; Abbott's permitless-carry expansion (handgun carry to anyone 21+, plus broader carry liberalization)79 raises campus risk, while Hinojosa's opposition narrows it.
First-job availability / business climate
Helps
—
Abbott: Helps · Hinojosa: —
An 18-year-old entering the workforce benefits from a strong job market; Abbott's business-relocation record and tax-cut framework support job availability, which earns partial credit on the first-job-availability strand. Hinojosa's economic frame focuses more on wage growth than on net new business arrivals.
Voting access / civic-rights protection
Hurts
Helps
Abbott: Hurts · Hinojosa: Helps
An 18-year-old's first election depends on accessible voting; Abbott's record on voting restrictions (SB 1, partisan-redistricting defense) narrows that access, while Hinojosa's voting-rights posture protects it.
Livable climate / long-horizon environment
Hurts
Helps
Abbott: Hurts · Hinojosa: Helps
An 18-year-old will live through the 2060s+ under whatever climate trajectory state policy enables; Abbott's extraction-favoring posture compounds risk over that horizon, while Hinojosa's climate-adaptation framing protects it.
Anti-deportation protection for undocumented 18-year-olds
Hurts
Helps
Abbott: Hurts · Hinojosa: Helps
Undocumented 18-year-olds face acute deportation risk during the transition to adulthood; Abbott's Operation Lone Star posture and tuition reversal67 compound that risk, while Hinojosa's defense of immigrant families and DACA-style protections aligns with the 18-year-old's interest.
Sources
- Hechinger Report, 'What's happened since Texas killed in-state tuition for undocumented students,' 2025. (full list)
- Eleanor Klibanoff, 'Gov. Greg Abbott signs into law one of nation's strictest abortion bans,' Texas Tribune, May 19, 2021. (full list)
- Texas AFT, 'SB 12, the Parents Bill of Rights, deep dive,' 2025 — pronoun, DEI, and GSA provisions. (full list)
- Cassandra Pollock, 'Abbott signs HB 1927, Texas permitless-carry law,' Texas Tribune, June 16, 2021. (full list)
- Gina Hinojosa for Texas Governor, official campaign priorities page, accessed May 2026. (full list)