TFB — ag trade, H-2A labor, water rights, property rights, rural healthcare, estate-tax repeal160 — splits this race. Abbott aligns on property rights, estate-tax posture, deregulation, and rural-hospital grants ($1.4B federal, $239M state) but runs against TFB on tariff defense (exports get hit) and Operation Lone Star pulling DPS from rural counties. Hinojosa aligns on water reliability, legal farm-labor immigration, and Medicaid expansion. Abbott is moderately closer.
Issue
Abbott
Hinojosa
Property rights
Helps
—
Abbott: Helps · Hinojosa: —
TFB makes property rights its foundational framework; Abbott's regulatory-takings and condemnation-skepticism record aligns. Hinojosa is not anti-property-rights but the strand is less central to her platform.
Estate-tax repeal posture
Helps
Hurts
Abbott: Helps · Hinojosa: Hurts
TFB has lobbied federally against the estate tax for generations on family-farm grounds; Abbott's published posture supports repeal while Hinojosa's tax-the-billionaires framing1 implies broader estate-tax exposure.
Regulatory rollback
Helps
Hurts
Abbott: Helps · Hinojosa: Hurts
TFB favors light-touch agricultural regulation; Abbott's deregulatory record aligns while Hinojosa supports expanded state regulatory authority.1
Rural-hospital construction grants
Helps
—
Abbott: Helps · Hinojosa: —
TFB prioritizes rural healthcare access; Abbott's $1.4B federal and $239M state HHSC rural-hospital and mental-health construction grants38 align. Hinojosa supports rural-hospital protection via Medicaid expansion, a different mechanism.
Tariff defense
Hurts
Helps
Abbott: Hurts · Hinojosa: Helps
Operation Lone Star DPS draw
Hurts
—
Abbott: Hurts · Hinojosa: —
TFB membership in rural counties has noted DPS coverage thinning as troopers redeploy to the border; Operation Lone Star's resource pull cuts against rural-Texas service expectations under Abbott. Hinojosa opposes the operation's scale.1
Water rights and reliability
—
Helps
Abbott: — · Hinojosa: Helps
TFB has centered water reliability as a top member priority; Hinojosa has explicitly campaigned on water reliability for Texas agriculture24. Abbott has signed water-funding legislation but it has not been a defining issue for him.
H-2A and legal farm-labor access
—
Helps
Abbott: — · Hinojosa: Helps
TFB has consistently supported H-2A and expanded legal-immigration pathways for ag workers; Hinojosa supports comprehensive immigration reform including farm-labor pathways.1 Abbott has prioritized enforcement-only and is a non-factor on the legal-pathway side.
Medicaid expansion for rural hospitals
Hurts
Helps
Abbott: Hurts · Hinojosa: Helps
Medicaid expansion would extend the rural-hospital revenue base TFB members depend on; Abbott has refused expansion while Hinojosa has made it a priority.1
Sources
- Gina Hinojosa for Texas Governor, official campaign priorities page, accessed May 2026. (full list)
- Patrick Svitek, 'Gov. Greg Abbott signs $18 billion property tax cut into law,' Texas Tribune, July 22, 2023. (full list)
- CBS News Texas, 'Gov. Abbott says Trump uses tariffs as leverage to boost border security,' CBS News Texas, Feb. 2025. (full list)
- KFOX, 'Gina Hinojosa launches campaign for Texas governor, targets water access and schools,' 2025. (full list)
- Office of the Governor, 'Governor Abbott announces historic $1.4 billion in federal funding secured for rural Texas Strong projects.' (full list)
- Texas Farm Bureau: agricultural trade access, farm labor (H-2A), water rights, property rights, rural-healthcare access, estate-tax repeal. (full list)