Texas Democrats Take Power as Education Policy Faces a Test

Democrats took the Texas governorship and state assembly on Tuesday, with control of the school board still uncertain.

By Career Ahead AI · Texas, United States — AI-assisted, fact-verified against cited sources. Readers should verify key facts.

Democrats won state power but face a Republican Senate

Democrats took the Texas governorship and state assembly on Tuesday, with control of the school board still uncertain. Gina Hinojosa is the state’s new Democratic governor, while Republicans still hold the State Senate. Texas was ground zero for a yearslong Republican effort to transform education, so the election changes who leads the state as that policy agenda faces a new administration. In Florida, Trump-aligned Republican Byron Donalds won the governor’s race.^¹²³

Hinojosa and Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin campaigned on K-12 education. Hinojosa said, “I just don’t think that the culture wars are the fight of 2026.” She introduced herself with the line, “I’m Gina Hinojosa. My pronouns are ‘mom,’ ‘Texan’ and ‘soon-to-be governor.’” She ran for Austin’s school board in 2012, and she has promised to fire the state’s education commissioner on her first day in office. Ann Richards was the last Democrat to lead Texas before Hinojosa.^¹²³

Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin campaigned on K-12 education.

A new governor can change appointments, not the laws alone

The policy challenge includes laws governing public universities. Senate Bill 17 banned diversity, equity and inclusion programs on public college campuses, while Senate Bill 37 expanded university system regents’ authority over academic decisions. SB 37 also created a new office to investigate complaints that public universities violate restrictions. Royce West, a Democratic state senator from Dallas, said of the laws, “It throws the baby out with the bathwater.”^¹²³

You may also like

Education & University Insights

Three Democrats Seek House Education Committee Chair

Representative Bobby Scott, a former chair, and Representative Suzanne Bonamici want to raise the maximum annual Pell Grant to nearly $15,000.

Read More →

Hinojosa has pledged to appoint regents who would expand financial aid to cover living expenses. She has a chance to replace regents, starting with twenty whose terms expire next year. Every regent then serving in a Texas public university system had been appointed by the governor. In 2023, more than a dozen of the governor’s regent appointees were personally interviewed before their confirmation votes. Kevin Eltife is a board chair of the University of Texas.^¹²³

University leaders have already faced pressure over policy

University systems and their leaders have made changes under the state’s conservative policy push. At the University of Texas, Eltife and fellow regents required universities to ensure students could graduate without studying “unnecessary controversial subjects.” Texas Tech regents hired former Republican state senator Brandon Creighton as chancellor. The University of Texas and Texas A&M also hired former Republican lawmakers as chancellors in 2025: John Zerwas and Glenn Hegar, respectively.^¹²³

When Mark A. Welsh III was named interim president in 2023, concern had surfaced that he was not conservative enough. Welsh, then Texas A&M’s president, was pushed by the Board of Regents to resign. In spring 2025, the Texas A&M, University of Texas and University of North Texas systems each enacted bans on drag performances. The UNT system later lifted its ban, and a federal appeals court struck down the Texas A&M ban, finding that it violated students’ First Amendment rights.^¹²³

Campus restrictions have affected teaching and faculty

The restrictions have reached classrooms and faculty decisions. A poll by The Daily Texan found that forty percent of faculty respondents were changing their syllabi or teaching to comply with state legislation. The Texas A&M and Texas Tech systems approved plans restricting curricula related to race and gender. Nearly sixty percent of Republican-leaning adults reported in a 2019 Pew Research Center survey that college campuses were having a negative impact on the country.^¹²³

In September, a Texas A&M English professor was fired after a student posted a video of the teacher discussing gender expression in class. State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, stoked anger over the video on social media. A Texas State University professor was fired this fall after a video surfaced of him speaking at a socialism conference; Attorney General Ken Paxton launched his second investigation of the month into UNT. Among the figures identified in the education debate are Jorge Elorza, chief executive of Democrats for Education Reform; Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers; and Daniel Buck, a Wisconsin-based research fellow with the American Enterprise Institute. Michael Harris is dean of the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at Southern Methodist University, and Barrett Taylor is a professor at the University of North Texas who studies higher education policy.^¹²³

You may also like

Education & University Insights

Private Student Borrowing Rises as Federal Loan Caps Take Effect

Lender figures show increased graduate borrowing, while schools report changes in costs and students’ use of private loans.

Read More →

Michael Harris is dean of the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at Southern Methodist University, and Barrett Taylor is a professor at the University of North Texas who studies higher education policy.¹²³

Texas Politics Now Shapes Your Campus Career

If you work or study at a Texas public university, the new governor's power to replace regents changes the rules you operate under. Twenty regent terms expire next year, and every current regent was appointed by the previous governor. With Hinojosa pledging to appoint regents who expand financial aid to cover living expenses, you could see changes in how aid is packaged, especially if you rely on loans or part-time work to cover rent and food. Ask about living-expense coverage when comparing offers or negotiating aid packages.^¹²³

Faculty and staff should also watch how the political shift affects classroom and hiring decisions. Forty percent of faculty respondents already report changing syllabi or teaching to comply with state legislation, and bans on drag performances have been enacted and struck down. If you are a professor or instructor, expect continued scrutiny of your course content, especially around race, gender, and political topics. Plan for more administrative review of your teaching materials, and consider how your public statements might be recorded and shared. This environment raises the stakes for what you say and how you teach.^³