Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who’s running for governor of Texas, speaks during a press conference in San Antonio. Credit: Stephanie Koithan

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Democrat running for Texas governor, on Monday pledged to dole out a $1,500 “corruption tax refund” check to every Texan if she’s elected in November.

The Austin rep’s “populist” economic policy platform aims to restore trust in a Republican-controlled state government led by her opponent, she said in a statement. For more than a decade, Gov. Greg Abbott and his cronies have “hoarded our money” by enriching billionaires with state contracts and tax breaks while average Texans struggle with the costs of health care, groceries, gas, and housing, she added.

“This proposal is about restoring that trust by putting money back in people’s pockets, especially at a time when Texans are hurting,” Hinojosa said in her statement. “The government is more of a burden than a help to people — that changes when I’m governor. We can come together in a bipartisan way to do this for Texans.”

Hinojosa plans to pay for the policy, which will require the approval of the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature, using funds from the Texas Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF), a rainy-day fund voters approved in 1988.

The ESF, primarily funded through oil and natural gas production tax revenue, was valued at nearly $25 billion last year. Hinojosa’s plan would cost about $17 billion to implement, her campaign confirmed.

Hinojosa’s lean toward left-wing economic populism follows major primary wins for Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates. Over the past 12 months, DSA-backed politicos, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, have suggested that candidates identifying as democratic socialists can win a general election in the U.S. if they run on pocketbook issues.

DSA-backed candidates who have secured primary victories this election cycle include mayoral candidates Nithya Raman in Los Angeles and Janesse Lewis George in Washington, D.C., as well as candidates in House races in Colorado and New York.

Even so, Doug Sosnik, a veteran political strategist and former adviser to President Bill Clinton, told The Hill that Texas and coastal urban areas have very different political climates.​

“There are some lessons that can be learned from the election results in New York and Washington, but I think that there are limits to how much this will tell you about voting in the rest of the country,” Sosnik said.

Hinojosa will discuss her economic policy plan with small business owners in San Antonio on Thursday, followed by a town hall at the music venue Paper Tiger starting at 6 p.m.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...