11th-hour power play targets incoming Dem governor after historic GOP defeat

A GOP lawmaker in Texas is seeking to limit some of the incoming governor's powers after Democrats flipped the state blue in Tuesday's election.

Republican Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison on Wednesday publicly urged outgoing Gov. Greg Abbott to convene a special session to "rein in" the governor's executive emergency powers before Democratic Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa takes office.

"Republicans lost last night, but Democrats were not sworn in," Harrison wrote in a lengthy statement posted on X. "We still have total power in Texas, and we must act like it by using the remaining ten weeks to restore separation of powers and limit the emergency powers that Governor-Elect Hinojosa is set to inherit, that would allow her to destroy liberty in Texas by executive fiat."

Harrison also emphasized in the post that he believes Texas governors should not have "unchecked" emergency powers, regardless of their party affiliation.

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The Texas State Capitol in Austin. A federal appeals court on Wednesday restored key parts of a 2021 Texas law governing mail-in voting and voter assistance. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

"Texas should have reined in executive emergency powers when I first demanded it in 2022," Harrison told Fox News Digital on Thursday. "If these are not revoked, Gina Hinojosa will assume not just the powers our state constitution bestows upon a Governor, but will, in effect, inherit nearly all the powers of a dictator. Most people are shocked to learn Texas governors can write, edit, or change any statute on a whim if they just declare an ‘emergency,’ and this is unconstitutional."

Under Section 433.002 of the Texas Government Code, the governor may issue emergency directives and "amend, modify, or rescind" those directives during a declared state of emergency, subject to the requirements outlined in the law.

"These powers have been abused in the past, and Governor-Elect Hinojosa has pledged to use them on day one," the Texas Republican added. "Republicans are still in control for ten weeks, we need to start acting like it."

Harrison also said in the X post that the Texas Legislature should "immediately pass" legislation such as HB911, which he filed in December 2022 to restrict the governor’s "never ending emergency powers."

His comments come after Hinojosa defeated Abbott in Texas' 2026 gubernatorial race on Tuesday, becoming the state's first-ever Latina governor.

While on the campaign trail, Hinojosa pledged that she would declare "a high-cost emergency" in Texas and introduce executive orders to halt the state's gas and diesel taxes and to freeze residential electricity rates, the Texas Tribune reported Wednesday.

A split image shows Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic candidate Gina Hinojosa in the 2026 Texas gubernatorial race. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images Photo by Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Abbott's office and Hinojosa's campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

In a Thursday X post, Harrison claimed that his demand to curb the Texas governor's emergency powers "has REALLY triggered low-IQ leftists across America," adding that he did not "recall them cussing and calling me every name in the book when I filed the same legislation 4 years ago... right after ABBOTT was re-elected!!"

The governor of Texas possesses the ability to sign or veto bills passed by the state's Legislature, serve as commander-in-chief of the state's military forces and convene special legislative sessions "for specific purposes," according to Abbott's office.

Under the Texas Disaster Act of 1975, the governor can declare a state of disaster and exercise certain emergency powers, including suspending specific regulatory requirements, but disaster declarations must be renewed after 30 days and can be terminated by the Legislature at any time.

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Hinojosa vowed in a Wednesday X post that her administration will "lead with a politics of courage, not convenience."

The Democratic Party notched another key victory in the Lone Star State on Tuesday after James Talarico toppled Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate race.

Ahead of Hinojosa taking office next year, some Republican Texas state senators have pledged to "hold the line" against Democrat-led policy goals in the state, The Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday.

Texas Democratic gubernatorial nominee state Rep. Gina Hinojosa speaks during an education town hall at a local community center on October 10, 2026 in Cypress, Texas. (Danielle Villasana/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump on Tuesday blasted Abbott in a Truth Social post, claiming the governor lost his re-election bid because he is a "RINO," an acronym that stands for "Republican in name only."

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"If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn’t have lost," Trump wrote in the social media post. "He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty!"

After conceding the race, Abbott told supporters on Tuesday that he had informed Hinojosa that he "would assist her and her team in a period of transition," The Hill reported.

"For weeks, I had been publicly warning on this podcast that we were in very real danger of losing everything in Texas," Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Wednesday in an X post. "Far too few believed that was possible. I am very, very sorry that it came to pass. Texas has not had a Democrat governor since 1994."

"We haven’t had a Democrat senator since 1993," Cruz added. "Now we’ll have both."

Hinojosa is set to officially take office in January 2027.