FULL: Gina Hinojosa speech after Texas Governor race win

Everything is bigger in Texas, including the shock of this win. We shocked the world tonight. With a Texas chip on our shoulder, we show that anything is possible. Because it never bothered me that they doubted me. It bothered me that they doubted us. In millions on attack ads written off over. And over again, but Texas, my faith in you never wavered. I have spoken to Governor Abbott, called to congratulate me. He extended a generous offer to assist with the transition. I want to thank him and his family for their years of service to this great state. And grateful. Of the incredible. Grace and power of God and of Texas. I'm a daughter of the Rio Grande Valley. Ethic and values of our great state. Where no one would have imagined that one day a little girl from the RGV would stand before you here as the next governor of the greatest state, Texas. But God had a plan. And the people of Texas had a plan too. It was a plan I did not know. I never set out to be a politician. I am a mom. I'm a mom who loves her children, who believes in their teachers, and who believes in Texas public schools. When I saw my child's school under threat, I did what any mom would do. I fought back. I ran for the school board because I wanted my child and every Texas child to have the opportunity to succeed. From the school board to the House of Representatives, and now, with your extraordinary faith and the trust of the people of Texas, to the Governor's Mansion. Here, where no matter where you come from, no matter how humble your beginnings, your life Can be bigger than your dreams when we started this campaign a little over a year ago, I asked a simple question is Texas a state that is by and for the people of Texas or is this the billionaires world and we just live here. Does Texas belong to the parents and their children? Thank you so much. Or the billionaires trying to dismantle our schools? Does Texas belong to the farmers and ranchers who have worked this land for generations? Or the corporations trying to buy it up? Does Texas belong to the working families who pay their taxes and do everything right? Or the wealthy and well-connected who play by different rules? This is Texas. belong to the people who rise before the sun, who work two jobs, who build our homes, who keep our hospitals running, who put everything they've got into small businesses and big dreams? Or does it belong to the people who write the biggest check to politicians in Austin? Tonight, Texas, we answered and we did not whisper. Answered loud enough for every billionaire, every lobbyist, and every corrupt politician in our year, belongs to us. Question we answered in McAllen, and Corpus Christi, and Dallas, and in Temple, in San Antonio, and Lubbock, from the neighborhoods of Austin to the wide open skies of West Texas, all the way out to Big Bend. And... We answered in our big cities where they tried to silence your voice with gerrymandered maps, closed polling sites only to see turnout like never before. We answered in small towns where people had been told their vote was already spoken for. We answered in communities that politicians visit every four years to ask for your vote only to forget about you as soon as they get to Austin. We answered in places that have been overlooked, underestimated, and left behind for far too long. And we answered across party lines. Because this campaign was always about whether the people of Texas ought to have a government that belongs to them. Not the highest bidder, not the biggest donor, not the most powerful lobbyist, you. And I want to say something to the powerful people who have gotten very comfortable running this state. I've delivered a mandate for change, and it is change they will get. With a politics of courage, not convenience. Progress will not be halted by partisanship, and Texas will bow down to no one. The days of treating our public schools like they are for sale are over. The days of treating our tax dollars like your personal piggy bank are over. The days of writing one set of rules for working people and another for the wealthy and well-to-do are over. And the days of telling Texans to settle for less while only billionaires in boardrooms profit from a state we have all built, those days are over too. By people with calloused hands and tired feet, by teachers and nurses, by oil field workers and truck drivers, by small business owners who put everything they had on the line, by parents who sacrificed so their children could have a better life. And those are the people who should come first in the state they built. They have labored and maintained an American dream through a long, hard night. My friends, it is morning now. Tomorrow, transition begins, and in January, I will take the oath of office. We'll take the oath of office, ready to lead a government by the people and for the people. Not for the people who donated the most. Not for the people who know the right people, but for every single Texan. Because this governor's office does not belong to me. It does not belong to my party. It belongs to you. Thank you. Thank you. This is our Texas. Thank you. Thank you. This is our government. And this is our one fight. And tonight, we won. We did not end one era of single party rule just to usher in another. The same national pundits and political class who ignored and then misunderstood this campaign will declare this a victory for Democrats. They continue to misunderstand. This victory is so much bigger. It belongs to Texas. It is a victory for taxpayers who work too hard to see their money handed out to donors and special interests. We will end the era of no-bid contracts in Texas. Thank you. And please listen, it is a victory for young people, young people across our state who possess unimaginable talents but have been left feeling so little hope. You will never have to choose between the state you love and a job that will pay your worth. You will have the economy that serves your ambitions, your dreams, and your hard work, a government on your side, and the hope you deserve. Victory for teachers who will be paid what they are worth. And in case you have not heard on day one, I will fire Mike Moran. We work tirelessly to repair the damage of the Texas voucher scam, an era in which our schools are sold for parts. This is a victory for the parents of Texas. We are taking our children's education back from a government that has failed them. Schools will not be taken out of our control. They will not be shuttered or suffocated. Being a parent is hard enough. Without carrying the burden of a government's failures. To the children of Texas, your schools will not close. You will be invested in and you will grow up in a Texas where you are lifted up every single day to reach your God-given potential. Tonight, I make a solemn promise to every single Texan. Whether you voted for me, Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for joining us today. Here's what Texas said today, loud and clear. Your government belongs to you. As your governor, I will never forget it. There will be no special set of rules for the wealthy and well-connected. No looking the other way when someone in my own party does wrong. No excuses for corruption because it comes from someone who shares my politics. Corruption does not become right when our side does it. Accountability does not stop at the doors of the governor's office. It begins there. The trust you have placed in me tonight is not a blank check. It is a sacred responsibility. And I intend to earn it every single day. There will be times when we disagree. But I promise you this. I will always tell you the truth. Nothing but the truth. I will serve you and only you. I will listen when you disagree. I will admit when I am wrong and I will never forget who sent me here. The power of this office does not belong to me. It belongs to you. And as excited I am by the history we've made tonight, I pray it does not compare to the future we build together. The nation will look at Texas and say we won something far more important than an election. They will look at Texas and say that faith in government has been restored. They will look at Texas and see the power of a government that lifts every single person up and never punches down. We will build a government more honest, more just, and worthy of the people Texas call home. And we will never forget the simple truth that brought us here tonight. Texas belongs to the people of Texas. I can't help but think of my grandmother, Grandma Hinojosa, who used to tell me, no te dejes, know your worth and fight to defend it. A lot of Latinas in Texas grew up hearing those same words from their own mothers, their own abuelas. This year we live them and we change this state and this win belongs to you and to them. And I need to thank some people here now who made this all possible. Pablo, nobody has sacrificed more than you in the past year. You have been so supportive. You have been so supportive. and gracious and I am so proud of you even though neither you or Mateo ever asked for this my fight comes for my deep love for the both of you and my desire to make this world safer and better for the both of you. You have been so understanding and encouraging and I thank you both so much. To my husband John who I made promise to never run for office You have been the rock who has held it all down and sacrificed and stood beside me in the hardest fights. This is not possible without you, and I love you. To my sister, Sochi, it's a year telling everyone who would listen that we would win, and with such certainty that it finally came true. I love you, Sochi. You're the best sister a sister could ask for. Mom and dad, Cindy and Robert, my brothers and sisters, and my entire family, thank you. Thank you for working day and night. Everything I believe and love about this state is because of you, and I love all of you. Next, United States Senator James Tallarico. For years, we believed there had to be a different and better way forward. It looks like we were right. Thank you and congratulations, my friend. To Amy Friedman, my campaign manager, an angel sent down from heaven to run this campaign, you believed in me and you believed in Texas. I will never forget all that you gave, all that you sacrificed to get us here. You led the best campaign team in the nation, a team that I hope gets some well-earned sleep tonight. To the people who showed up early for me and often, who posted when I could still keep track of who was tagging me, whether it was 10 times a day from Houston or DMs spreading my message to Texas newcomers, who showed up at events when it was still only familiar faces, who gave your labor and your love, and you took a leap of faith. Thank you. And to my hometown, Brownsville. He becomes the first governor of Texas from the Rio Grande Valley. We did it. We did it. Good night, and God bless Texas. Thank you.