Gina Hinojosa hasn't taken the oath of office yet, and she's already promising to tear down one of Governor Greg Abbott's signature national security orders.
Texas' incoming Democrat governor told the Washington Post she intends to remove the state's designation of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a foreign terrorist organization and transnational criminal organization — a designation Abbott issued last November, as RedState's Mike Miller reported at the time.
"We have to use public safety measures for public safety," Hinojosa told the Post, describing the designation of CAIR as "nonsense happening with power that should be used for public safety."
The Post framed the interview as Hinojosa trading "GOP culture wars for moderation." Texas Republicans spent the campaign warning voters she was a closet radical, and per RedState's Rusty Weiss, it didn't take long for that warning to look prophetic.
What Abbott's Order Actually Did
Abbott designated both CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations, barring both groups from acquiring real property in Texas.
"The Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR have long made their goals clear: to forcibly impose Sharia law and establish Islam's 'mastership of the world,'" Abbott said when he issued the order. He added that the groups' actions "to support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable."
Less than a week later, President Trump followed Texas' lead with an executive order beginning the process of designating certain Muslim Brotherhood chapters as foreign terrorist organizations.
The designation isn't a fringe smear. In the 2008 Holy Land Foundation case — the largest terrorism-financing trial in U.S. history — CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme that funneled millions of dollars to Hamas. CAIR describes itself as a civil rights organization and sued Abbott over the designation.
The group has already responded to political pressure elsewhere. Conservative accounts on X amplified the story Tuesday, with Libs of TikTok posting that Hinojosa intends to "REMOVE Greg Abbott's designation of CAIR as a terrorist organization." Eric Daugherty noted that the reversal would leave Florida as the only state in the nation with such a designation — and that CAIR suspended operations in Florida after it was labeled.
🚨 JUST IN: Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa (D) intends to UNDO Greg Abbott's terrorist designation of CAIR — WaPo SHE IS CODDLING ISLAMISTS! This would make Florida the ONLY state in the nation that's designated CAIR like this. CAIR even SUSPENDED operations in FL
What It Means for Texans
The practical effect is immediate: the property restrictions Abbott placed on CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood would disappear, and Texas would formally stop treating the groups as security threats. It also signals how Hinojosa intends to govern — on immigration enforcement, on school policy, and on the state's role in national security, the incoming administration is preparing to reverse course from the Abbott years.
Whether she carries through once sworn in is another matter. CAIR's lawsuit against Abbott is still in the courts, and the legislature — where Republicans hold majorities — could move to codify the designation in statute and remove it from the governor's sole discretion. It is not yet known whether Hinojosa has discussed the reversal with legislative leaders or set a timeline for the change.
What is known: the second-largest state in the union is about to have a governor who called a terrorism designation "nonsense" — and who said so before she was even sworn in.
Our Take
Texans were told the warnings about Hinojosa were just campaign noise. Six days after the election, she's telling the Washington Post she'll hand CAIR back its footing in the state, and she's calling a terrorism designation "nonsense." That's not moderation. That's a signal.
Abbott's order wasn't pulled from thin air — it followed a federal trial in which CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism-financing case this country has ever tried. Florida treated the group as a threat, and CAIR packed up and left. Hinojosa wants Texas to go the other way.
The question now is whether Republicans in the legislature let one incoming governor erase a security designation with a phone call — or whether they put it in statute where it belongs. Patriots, call your state representatives and ask them plainly: will they codify the CAIR designation before Hinojosa takes the oath?
