Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa (D) told CNN on Thursday, “Data centers have moved into mostly rural communities, and there are no rules and laws to protect Texans. We need to stop what we are doing with data centers until we have those protections.” Communities, she said, should have “a seat at the table,” and “it has to be a partnership that benefits Texans.”
Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa: “It is not that I hate data centers. I hate the way they are taking advantage of Texas”
Asked whether data centers still have a future in Texas:
HINOJOSA: “Right. Well, we have always been a pro-business state in Texas. But what changes now with me as governor is it has to be a partnership that benefits Texans. And right now what has happened is data centers have moved into mostly rural communities and there are no rules and laws to protect Texans and Texans are being taken advantage of. So the difference is we will have laws to protect Texans and we need to stop what we’re doing with data centers until we have those protections. We can have a strong economy, strong industry and protections for the people of Texas. Those things are not mutually exclusive, and I’ll make sure as governor I lead to ensure that that happens.”
TAPPER: “So you’re not ruling out that data centers will be able to be built in Texas, it’s just you want there to be regulations to protect communities, is that right?”
HINOJOSA: “And that communities have a seat at the table to decide if and how these data centers come into their communities. Texas is like a country. We are so diverse in all the ways. Different communities have different needs. And those communities have to be able to walk away from the table to leverage what they need for their community. So absolutely, we need to make sure they are partners in this effort. And that has always been my position. It is not that I hate data centers. I hate the way they are taking advantage of Texas. And that stops when I’m governor.”
— Fireside Alpha (@firesidealpha) November 6, 2026
Hinojosa, who defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday, mentioned Elon Musk by name: “We can have a strong working relationship with Musk and his companies, but it has to be on our terms,” she said. “It cannot be just running over the people of Texas.”
[NOTE: Musk, who relocated his personal residence and corporate operations for Tesla, SpaceX, and X from California to Texas in 2020, contributed vast sums to Republican candidates in this year’s midterm elections, including more than $100 million to Attorney General Ken Paxton’s unsuccessful Senate campaign against Democrat James Talarico.]
Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa: “We can have a strong working relationship with Elon Musk and his companies, but it has to be on our terms”
Jake Tapper asked her about blocking the sale of a Texas state park to SpaceX, and whether Musk might leave the state over it. Her answer:
“Well, look, as I said before, we have to have balance. These are our beaches we’re talking about. I mean, selling our beach to Elon Musk is just something that is almost unimaginable. It’s unacceptable. Our beaches are enshrined in our Texas Constitution as being free and open to the people of Texas because they are our beaches.”
“We can have a strong working relationship with Elon Musk and his companies, but it has to be on our terms. It cannot be just running over the people of Texas. And that’s what changes now that I will be governor.”
— Fireside Alpha (@firesidealpha) November 6, 2026
Hinojosa said that she has asked the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission to take no action on a possible sale of Boca Chica State Park to SpaceX during the gubernatorial transition. “It is not that I hate data centers,” Hinojosa told CNN, “I hate the way they are taking advantage of Texas.”
Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison (R) responded to Hinojosa’s comments by calling on Abbott to curb her power before January. Harrison is asking Abbott to call a special legislative session to restrict the governor’s emergency powers before Hinojosa takes office.
Harrison wrote on X that Hinojosa should not have “unchecked emergency powers,” and that “the urgency is undeniable… and inaction is intolerable.”
I call on Gov. Abbott to IMMEDIATELY convene a special session to REIN IN EXECUTIVE EMERGENCY POWERS… before Gina Hinojosa is sworn in!
Republicans lost last night, but Democrats were not sworn in.
We still have total power in Texas, and we must act like it by using the remaining ten weeks to restore separation of powers and limit the emergency powers that Governor-Elect Hinojosa is set to inherit, which would allow her to destroy liberty in Texas by executive fiat.
I’ve warned since I was first elected that NO governor, Republican or Democrat, should have unchecked emergency powers!
Now that Texas has elected a Democrat Governor, the urgency is undeniable… and inaction is intolerable.
Without action, Governor Hinojosa will inherit the powers of a DICTATOR.
Due to the absurd (and almost certainly unconstitutional) Texas emergency powers laws, Gov. Hinojosa will literally have the power to modify laws, ignore laws, or create and enforce laws – including criminal laws – on a whim!
Today is a day for ACTION, and bold leadership.
The Texas Legislature must immediately pass, and Governor Abbott must sign, legislation like HB911, which I filed in 2022 and warned at the time, that “Never ending emergency powers are antithetical to representative government and render people powerless. Legislative bodies allowing a single executive branch official to both write and enforce laws is the biggest threat to our constitutional system of divided government and should be opposed irrespective of which political party runs the executive branch.”
My legislation would protect liberty from executive fiat by, among other things, taking the following actions:
1. Prohibit the Governor from suspending or modifying statutes
2. Sunset emergency orders in 30 days if the legislature does not ratify the order
3. Prohibit the governor from reissuing emergency orders that expired or the legislature rejected
4. Require emergency orders to be narrowly tailored
5. Subject emergency orders to expedited judicial review
We have TEN WEEKS LEFT to protect Texas from near total Democrat rule.
I encourage every elected Republican in Texas to join my demand for Gov. Abbott to call a special session.
The future of liberty in America is literally on the line in Texas, and Texans deserve leadership that acts accordingly.
@GregAbbott_TX
— Brian Harrison (@brianeharrison) November 4, 2026
In response to the idea of Republicans putting in place preemptive limitations on her options as governor, Hinojosa said: “The people of Texas have spoken, and I think it’s important that as elected leaders we respect what the people of Texas have said,” as Click2Houston reports.
According to The Hill, Texas state Rep. Dade Phelan (R), the former Texas House speaker who was ousted amid the far-right takeover of the state GOP, said he expects Hinojosa to accomplish her plans even with GOP opposition as Republicans don’t hold a majority big enough in the state Senate “to govern with an iron fist.”