Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate for Texas Gina Hinojosa struggled to answer questions about her past support for “Defund The Police”-style policies during a tense interview on the Walton & Johnson radio show.
During the interview, hosts pressed Hinojosa on whether she had previously defended the cuts. After she indicated she had not, they referenced her past social media posts and voting record, including material about cities cutting police funding and local governments acting “in accordance with” certain priorities.
Austin’s City Council voted in August 2020 to reallocate approximately 150 million from the Austin Police Department budget. The move was described as reducing the department’s allocation by roughly one-third of its prior total in some characterizations, with funds shifted toward other services.
Hinojosa, then a state representative from Austin, publicly supported the decision at the time. “Tell me how it makes sense to punish #ATX for diverting some police to other public safety priorities when ATX SPENDS MORE PER/CAPITA ON POLICE THAN ANY MAJOR CITY IN TX (more than Ft. Worth)? & WILL STILL BE SPENDING MORE THAN MOST,” Hinojosa posted on social media.
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CONFRONTED: Democrat gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa denies defending Austin’s $150 million police budget cut…then her own statements and voting record is read back to her.
Incredible interview this morning on @WaltonNJohnson pic.twitter.com/B5I9x1OVlU
— Brandon Waltens (@bwaltens) October 30, 2026
In the 2021 legislative session, Hinojosa voted against House Bill 1900. The bill, later signed by Governor Greg Abbott, created penalties and restrictions for large municipalities that reduced police funding. Data collected by Texas Scorecard notes she also co-authored legislation that would have limited qualified immunity for officers (left pending) and voted against a 2023 measure requiring armed security on public school campuses.
Her campaign has attempted to rewrite history by describing certain social issues as “distractions” and stated she “never voted to defund police.”
Abbott’s campaign has criticized the record. One statement called her “a Defund-the-Police radical” and referenced her opposition to HB 1900. Hinojosa’s side has responded with advertisements featuring officers who claim Abbott supports law enforcement “on camera” but threatens local funding “off camera,” citing instances where the governor conditioned or reduced state grants to cities over immigration enforcement policies.
