Democrats scored a series of historic victories in Texas state politics earlier this month, winning every statewide race on the ballot and a number of more local contests to boot. Gina Hinojosa upset Gov. Greg Abbott to become the state’s first-ever Latina governor and the first Democrat elected to the position since the 1990s. Democratic candidates swept up key posts in the races for lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, and land and agricultural commissioners. In the state House, Democrats won a majority for the first time in over two decades.
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In January, newly elected officials in Texas’ executive branch will begin their terms. The new slate of Texas lawmakers will also convene that month for their first legislative session, in which they will propose and vote on legislation.
One area in which newly elected Texas Democrats have indicated they will change course: combatting President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.
Shortly after Trump returned to the White House last year, Abbott issued multiple Executive Orders directing state agencies to coordinate and assist with the Trump Administration’s immigration operations. The Republican governor also previously signed into law a controversial measure, SB 4, that requires cities and counties to share information regarding the immigration status of detained individuals with federal officers.
Abbott has pursued a hard-line immigration agenda of his own in recent years as well, transporting migrants from Texas to Democratic-led cities and launching an initiative aimed at combatting illegal immigration in the state, Operation Lone Star, that has seen thousands of Texas National Guard and Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers deployed to the southern border and the state work to erect a number of physical barriers there.
Josiah Heyman, a professor of border studies at the University of Texas El Paso, notes that SB 4 “is still in place,” but says that “certainly a great deal matters in terms of how it's carried out, how it's interpreted.”
He says that Democratic leaders may increasingly push back against SB 4 by directing reduced cooperation with ICE, and eventually attempt to repeal the law entirely. “There's an enormous amount of discretion that could be exercised in assigning officers,” he says. He cautions, however, that “it's going to take a while for changes to take place in the actual laws themselves.”
Al Juburi says that the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, currently the sole migrant family detention facility in the U.S., could potentially be shuttered shortly after Democratic officials take office.
Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin walks in the Texas Senate chamber after speaking at a news conference at the Capitol on Nov. 10, 2026. —Jay Janner—The Austin American-Statesman/Getty Images
Data centers
Several newly elected officials have also promised to restrict the rapid growth of data centers, which have been a source of discontent for many Texans, who have expressed concerns over the centers draining water supplies, driving up energy costs, and creating unwanted noise and pollution.
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He notes, however, that Hinojosa’s promised moratorium could only apply to new projects, and that there isn’t much she could do about those that are ongoing.
Due to data centers’ contributions to the state’s economy, though, Medlock also doesn’t see a version of Texas in which data centers cease to exist entirely.
Texas’ private and public school systems could also see sweeping changes impacting millions of students under the state’s new leadership.
“Installing a new commissioner of education is a clear authority within the new governor's office, that will have huge implications for our education policy as it stands and how things might might look going forward,” Chloe Sikes, who leads policy research across Texas for the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA), tells TIME. She says that this position will be crucial in enforcing potential education reform if new laws are enacted.
“That could be clearly rolled back depending on the leadership the governor-elect wants to develop at the state board level,” Sikes says of the curriculum.
“I would expect that local control would be returned to those school districts relatively quickly,” DeMathews tells TIME. “What that means for parents is they can kind of show back up to a school board meeting with people they voted for and impress upon them their concerns or their desires.”
The voucher program, DeMatthews explains, was established as part of a state law, which would need to be repealed by passing both chambers of the state House. But Hinojosa has veto power to reject future appropriations for the program.
State Sen. Nathan Johnson, candidate for Texas Attorney General, speaks during the Texas Democratic Convention at the Hilliard Center in Corpus Christi on June 26, 2026. —Katina Zentz—San Antonio Express-News/Getty Images
Reproductive healthcare
Texas bans abortion in almost all cases, with narrow exceptions in cases when the life or health of the pregnant person is deemed to be at risk.
“The first thing I do when people ask me about abortion is point out that I’m not a legislator, and I can’t change abortion law.” Johnson told The Texas Tribune after the elections earlier this month. “What I can do is cease using Texas abortion laws as an instrument of persecution and intimidation, harassment and political showboating. All four of those things have happened.”
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Raven Freeborn, executive director of Avow, a Texas-based abortion access advocacy organization, tells TIME that declining to continue Paxton’s enforcement techniques would open the door for expanding access to reproductive healthcare across Texas.
LGBTQ+ rights
Ash Hall, a policy and advocacy strategist at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, tells TIME that the blue wave in Texas could also result in the state easing restrictions targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
One change they predict the newly elected officials could make is overturning a state law that requires patients’ biological sex to be used on their medical records.
Johnson has said, for instance, that he will not devote resources to enforcing a Texas law restricting transgender people’s access to bathrooms.
Though same-sex marriage is legal in all states, Hall adds that Texas’ Constitution includes language saying the practice is banned, while an “anti-sodomy” provision also still exists within the state’s Penal Code. Hall contends these texts, which are unenforceable due to landmark Supreme Court rulings, could soon be removed.
“It's nice that things aren't going to get worse, and we can finally focus on how to make things better,” Hall says. “It's a new era for us.”
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