Texas Governor-elect Hinojosa Names Bipartisan Transition Team, With a Former GOP Lawmaker as Co-Chair
Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa's transition operation took shape on November 5 under the name "By and For the People." Joseph Carlos Madden will serve as executive director; former Republican state Representative Ernest Bailes and Texas State Building and Construction Trades Council executive director Ryan Pollock are co-chairs; and former Austin school trustee Tamala Barksdale is a senior adviser. Hinojosa defeated incumbent Governor Greg Abbott to become Texas's first Latina governor and its first Democratic governor since Ann Richards in 1990.
Madden, a Houston native and University of Texas at Austin graduate, brings eight years of experience helping Harris County elected officials through transitions. Bailes, a rancher from Shepherd and a Texas A&M graduate, served House District 18 from 2017 to 2025. Pollock rose through IBEW Local 520 to lead the state building trades council. Barksdale, a partner at the firm madeXus, sat on the Austin ISD board from 2010 to 2015.
Announcing the team, Hinojosa pledged a bipartisan transition and administration, with cutting costs and strengthening public schools as the organizing priorities. She repeated during the rollout that education-agency leadership changes promised in the campaign will be detailed during the transition.
Hinojosa is scheduled to take office on January 19, 2027. The team says cabinet and agency nominations will roll out in batches starting this month, with applications to serve already being accepted.
(Source: Texas Governor-Elect Transition Team)
Source: Texas Governor-Elect Transition Team
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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