State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, speaks to reporters about her campaign during an event in San Antonio. Credit: Michael Karlis

Democratic gubernatorial candidate State Rep. Gina Hinojosa during a weekend campaign stop in San Antonio called Gov. Greg Abbott the “most corrupt governor” in the state’s history.

“Texans are struggling,” said Hinojosa, an Austin Democrat. “We have the most people who are uninsured. Housing is more and more unaffordable. Our utility and electricity bills are skyrocketing under [Abbott] because of corruption.”

The former Austin ISD school board trustee pointed to a September study by watchdog group Public Citizen, which found that Abbott awarded nearly $1 billion in no-bid state contracts to donors to his political campaigns.

“That’s our tax dollars,” Hinojosa said. “What we know is that Greg Abbott is overseeing a system that is working against us with our own money. Texans are done with that. They want change, and that’s my message across the state.”

Hinojosa’s comments came during a Sunday campaign event for U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett at Tony G’s on San Antonio’s East Side. Even so, Hinojosa — who declared her candidacy in October — said she wouldn’t be making an official endorsement of either Crockett or the Dallas congresswoman’s primary opponent, State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, in the state’s tightly contested U.S. Senate race.

Hinojosa, who’s served a decade in the Texas House,  is by and large the favorite to win the Democratic primary for governor. However, she said she’s taking nothing for granted.

The state rep is ramping up her campaign to overcome not just a lack of name recognition outside Central Texas, but wide funding gap compared to the Republican governor’s nearly $100 million war chest as he seeks an unprecedented fourth term.

“He can’t spend enough money to undo what people have known about him for 12 years,” Hinojosa said. “They know him. They don’t like him. So my challenge is to just get my name out there and to greet people as they change candidate who has a record of working for Texans.”

Hinojosa said the state’s ongoing affordability crisis and the high rate of people without health insurance are among her top concerns. However, the outspoken school-voucher skeptic also said public education and funding Texas schools are other key priorities.

“We’re all paying the Greg Abbott corruption tax,” Hinojosa said. “Our property taxes are going up under him, but we’re getting less. Where I live, 10 schools are shutting down — schools are shutting down all over this state because our money is not going towards our priorities.”

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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,...