Gina Hinojosa voted against Texas parents three times

The Abbott campaign’s Oct. 17 video targets Hinojosa over parental oversight, while Texas families need candidates to answer who directs a child’s education and care.

Texas parents deserve enforceable authority over their children’s education. On Oct. 17, 2026, @GovHotWheels_TX posted: “In Gina Hinojosa’s Texas, parents don’t get a say.” The post continued: “Time and again, Hinojosa voted against parental oversight and in favor of giving school bureaucrats control over children’s education.”¹ The Texans for Greg Abbott campaign’s release says the video features Denise Bell, a parents’ rights activist with Moms for Liberty².

What authority should parents have when a school’s decisions conflict with their own?

“Time and again, Hinojosa voted against parental oversight and in favor of giving school bureaucrats control over children’s education.”

Texans for Greg Abbott campaign account

The Texas Tribune reports that Senate Bill 12 requires parental approval for children’s club participation and prohibits student clubs related to sexual orientation and gender identity. Parents can also challenge alleged violations of its DEI ban and appeal an unsatisfactory school response to the education commissioner³.

The House Journal records that SB 12 passed.

The standard for judging HB 1106 should be equally direct: refusing to affirm a child’s asserted gender identity or sexual orientation should not, by itself, trigger an abuse or neglect investigation. Parents must remain free to teach biological reality without treating agreement with transgender ideology as a condition of keeping the state out of their home.

The House Journal describes Senate Bill 14 as prohibiting specified procedures and treatments for children for gender transitioning, gender reassignment or gender dysphoria⁴.

State Rep. Oliverson explained its purpose: “SB 14 is our bill from Friday that protects children under the age of 18 from harmful medical and surgical procedures.” Protecting children requires a legal boundary against sex-change procedures on minors, not deference to the institutions offering them.

Nicole Hill, communications director for the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, offered the opposition’s blunt answer: “That’s not parents’ rights. That is a culture war”³.

That label does nothing to answer the practical question: who decides whether a child participates? A parent’s right to refuse is meaningful only when the school must honor it. Officials should welcome scrutiny of how they use authority over other people’s children. Calling the dispute a culture war cannot excuse shutting parents out.

Texas parents should demand direct answers from Hinojosa. Should schools need parental permission before children join clubs? Should Texas prohibit sex-change procedures on minors? Ask for yes or no—and hold every candidate’s answer against the official roll calls.

Gina Hinojosa voted against Texas parents three times

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