By Rylee Wilson | Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — Gilberto Hinojosa was reelected as chair of the Texas Democratic Party, beating out challengers who argued the party needed a change in leadership.
At the Texas Democratic Convention in Dallas on Saturday, 58% of the delegates voted for Hinojosa on the final ballot. His closest challenger, Kim Olson, received 40 percent of the vote.
Hinojosa, a lawyer and former county judge of Cameron County, thanked his challengers for traveling the state and listening to Democrats’ concerns.
“When they did that, I was there, and I listened,” Hinojosa said in his acceptance speech. “Not only did I listen to what they asked, but I listened to you. I listened to you to see what we needed to do to make our party stronger.”
Olson campaigned on improving the party’s organization, arguing Texas Democrats need a change in leadership to have more success at the polls.
“You county chairs, and precinct chairs want to know there’s not only a four-month plan for you, there is a four-year plan for you, building political foundations in your communities,” Olson told delegates at the convention.
Caroll Robinson, chairman of the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats, also ran for state chair. He came third, with around 18% of the vote in the first round, and announced his support for Hinojosa on stage.
“The folks who have been with me and have come this far, want us to stand with Gilbert Hinojosa,” Robinson told the convention.
He received around 1.5% of the vote in the second round.
Olson, a retired Air Force Colonel, ran for agriculture commissioner in 2018, the 24th Congressional District in 2020.
She faced calls to drop out of the race for chair earlier this year, when allegations that she shoved a party staffer on a bus at a campaign event in 2018 surfaced.
Hinojosa, who has chaired the party since 2012, says he wants to finish the job he started a decade ago, as Democrats inch closer to capturing statewide office.
“Ten years ago, you elected me to be your chair, and I promised you we would rebuild this party,” Hinojosa said. “I’ve made good on that promise. We are now the biggest battleground state in the United States.”
