Thank You, Texas Voters: What Tuesday Means for Queer and Trans Texans

Thank you, Texas. Thank you to everyone who stood in an early voting line, mailed a ballot, drove a neighbor to the polls, knocked on doors in the heat, or talked a cousin into registering. Tuesday, Texans elected a Democratic governor for the first time since Ann Richards in 1990. They also sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate for the first time since 1988.

For queer, trans and nonbinary Texans, it has been a long few years at the Capitol. This page lays out what changed Tuesday night and what didn’t. It also covers the winners’ records on LGBTQ+ rights and what a governor can and can’t do.

Who Won

These are early, unofficial results as of Wednesday morning. Counties are still counting, and the state canvasses the official totals later in November.

Office	Candidate	Reported Wednesday morning
Governor	Gina Hinojosa	Greg Abbott conceded
U.S. Senate	James Talarico	Ken Paxton conceded; AP called it after 10 p.m.
Lieutenant governor	Vikki Goodwin	AP call; about 51.7% to Dan Patrick’s 45.7%
Attorney general	Nathan Johnson	AP; about 52.4% to Mayes Middleton’s 46%
Comptroller	Sarah Eckhardt	Declared victory; about 50% to Don Huffines’s 47%

Sources: KUT’s statewide results (updated 8:53 a.m. Wednesday), KSAT and the Texas Tribune’s live blog. More than 7.7 million Texans voted before Election Day, early or by mail, which KUT reports was more than 40% of registered voters.

Why It’s Historic

• The first Democrat elected governor since 1990. Hinojosa is also the first Latina governor of Texas and the first from the Rio Grande Valley, KSAT reports. She has represented Austin in the Texas House since 2017
• The first Democrat to win a Texas U.S. Senate race since 1988. Talarico, an Austin-area state representative, gave his victory speech here in Austin
• Four statewide wins, with more leading. Democrats won governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and the Senate race, and led for comptroller, land commissioner and agriculture commissioner Wednesday morning, per KUT
• Endorsed by Equality Texas Action. All five winners above were on Equality Texas Action’s 2026 endorsement list, which says it backs candidates “who will improve the lives of LGBTQIA+ Texans if elected”

Where They’ve Stood on LGBTQ+ Rights

All five winners served in the Texas Legislature, so they have voting records. Here’s how they voted on four bills that affect queer and trans Texans, checked against the official House and Senate Journals.

Bill	What it did	How they voted
SB 14 (2023)	Banned gender-affirming medical care for minors	Hinojosa, Goodwin and Talarico voted no (House Record 1688, May 15, 2023)
SB 12 (2023)	Restricted “sexually oriented performances,” the drag bill	Hinojosa, Goodwin and Talarico voted no (House Record 1917, May 22, 2023)
SB 8 (2025, 2nd special session)	Restricts multiple-occupancy restrooms and locker rooms in government buildings by sex	Hinojosa, Goodwin and Talarico voted no (House Record 134, Aug. 28, 2025)
HB 229 (2025)	Defines “sex” as male or female in state law	Johnson and Eckhardt voted no in the Senate (May 28, 2025)

Gina Hinojosa. During the SB 14 debate she offered an amendment, which failed, and she voted against the bill. After Abbott’s ads called her “Gender Bender Gina,” she answered in an ad NBC News quotes: “They want to run an entire campaign saying that I’m too woke. I plan to spend an entire campaign focused on the fact that working people are too broke.” Some trans Texans told KXAN they wanted her to say more.

Vikki Goodwin. On the House floor during the SB 14 debate, she asked the bill’s sponsor whether it would hurt adolescent health care and told him she was “extremely concerned about the health care of all adolescents in Texas” (House Journal, May 15, 2023, pages 4232 to 4233). As lieutenant governor she will preside over a Senate that Republicans still control.

Nathan Johnson. As a state senator from Dallas, he voted against HB 229 in the Senate. His opponent’s campaign accused him of being unwilling to enforce the bathroom law. We found no statement from Johnson himself saying how he would enforce it.

What a Governor Can and Can’t Do

A new governor doesn’t repeal anything on day one. SB 14, SB 12, HB 229 and SB 8 all stay law until the Legislature changes them or a court strikes them down. Here’s what the job comes with, from Article 4 of the Texas Constitution:

• The veto. The governor can veto any bill. The Legislature can override with two-thirds of both chambers. For bills that reach the governor at the end of a session, the governor has 20 days after adjournment to veto, and the Legislature is already gone, so it can’t override them. A Democratic governor can stop new bills like SB 14 from becoming law
• The line-item veto. Only on spending bills. The governor can strike items from the budget but not rewrite other laws
• Special sessions. Only the governor can call one, and the governor picks the subjects. Abbott called special sessions in 2025, and SB 8 passed in one. Hinojosa can decide not to put those topics on the call. She can’t make legislators pass anything
• Appointments. The governor appoints the members of state boards and commissions and fills vacancies, but confirmation takes two-thirds of the Senate. With Republicans holding the Senate, every nominee needs some of them
• The message to the Legislature. At the start of each session the governor sets out priorities

The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate, but most of that office’s power comes from the Senate’s own rules, which the 31 senators adopt. The attorney general represents the state in court and gives written legal advice to state officials. Under SB 8, the attorney general is also the official who collects its civil penalties, $25,000 for a first violation, after a complaint.

Then there’s the Legislature itself. As of Wednesday morning, the Texas Tribune reported the Senate holding at 19 Republicans to 12 Democrats, and the House count still unsettled. Democrats need a majority there to pick the speaker. The next regular session starts in January 2027.

The marriage amendment is still there, too. Article 1, Section 32 of the Texas Constitution says marriage “shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.” Voters added it in 2005. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell ruling means Texas can’t enforce it, but the words are still there. Taking them out takes two-thirds of both chambers and then a statewide vote.

What Talarico Could Help Do in the Senate

Talarico voted against SB 14, SB 12 and SB 8 in the Texas House. During the SB 14 debate he asked the sponsor to accept a sunset clause, and when he refused, Talarico asked: “If the entire justification of this bill is that the science is not settled, why would we not sunset the bill if the science is settled?” (House Journal, May 15, 2023, page 4234).

His campaign wrote in a 2025 questionnaire that he “would sponsor the Equality Act in the U.S. Senate,” and after the Washington Post reported Oct. 9 that the campaign would only commit to reviewing the bill, said he “stands by his support for the Equality Act as listed on the questionnaire,” The Advocate reports. The Equality Act, H.R. 15 in the current Congress, would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal civil rights law. He has also said, per PolitiFact, “I oppose gender-reassignment surgeries for minors.”

Reporting Wednesday says Democrats won both chambers of Congress. A majority decides which bills get a committee hearing and a floor vote, and that alone is a big change. Most bills still need 60 votes to get past a Senate filibuster, and a president can veto what passes.

Where We Go From Here

The new governor takes office in January, after the Legislature convenes. Before then:

• Find your own state representative and senator at Who Represents Me, and tell them which issues you want the 2027 session to take up
• Know what the law says today. Our guide to what city and state law say about queer life in Austin covers SB 8 and HB 229, and our name and gender marker guide covers documents
• Look after each other. If the last few years wore you down, our therapists guide lists affirming counselors in town

And thank you, again, to every Texan who voted. We’ll update this page as the new officials take office and the Legislature takes up bills.

What We Couldn’t Check

Final vote totals, which come with the state canvass. Whether the Texas House flips. A post-election statement from Equality Texas, the Transgender Education Network of Texas or the ACLU of Texas; we hadn’t found one by Wednesday morning. Whether any openly LGBTQ+ candidate made Texas history Tuesday; we’ll add it when it’s confirmed. We’ll update this page as results are certified.