Amid partisan arts disputes, Texas’ new Democratic governor will pick university regents

Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa will fill at least six seats on the boards of the Texas Tech and University of Texas systems within weeks of taking office in January, including the seats held by both boards' chairmen.

Hinojosa, a state representative from Austin, unseated Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday, and state Rep. Vikki Goodwin unseated Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. State Sen. Nathan Johnson won the attorney general's race over state Sen. Mayes Middleton, and Benjamin Flores defeated Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham.

State Rep. James Talarico defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate. The AP projected Democrats would win at least 76 of 150 seats in the state House. Republicans kept control of the state Senate.

Hinojosa's victory remarks, posted by her campaign, focused on public schools and did not mention the arts, film or universities.

But her opportunity to appoint board of regents seats at the Lone Star State’s largest universities comes amid partisan politics over the arts.

At Texas Tech, board chairman Cody Campbell and Regent Arcilia Acosta have terms ending January 31, 2027. A third seat became vacant in February, when Pat Gordon resigned after Abbott appointed him to the Texas Transportation Commission.

At the University of Texas System, chairman Kevin Eltife's term and regents Nolan Perez and Stuart Stedman's terms expire February 1, 2027.

Terms are also expiring on the boards of the Texas A&M University and Texas State University systems.

The Texas Tech regents oversee Chancellor Brandon Creighton, whose review of course content, including arts courses, is the subject of an Urgent Matter public records request. Creighton and the regents are defendants in a federal lawsuit the Texas chapter of the American Association of University Professors filed in July over his memos. Lawyers from Paxton's office represent them.

Paxton's office ruled September 29 that the system could withhold the records Urgent Matter requested. Paxton remains attorney general until Johnson is sworn in, and records disputes that reach the office after that will go to Johnson. His campaign website describes him as "demanding government transparency and fairness in the law."

Under the Texas Constitution, a governor's appointees need the consent of two-thirds of the senators present. With a 19-12 Republican majority and all 31 senators present, Hinojosa would need at least nine Republican votes to confirm nominees, assuming all 12 Democrats vote yes.

The same rule covers regents at the University of North Texas, where Urgent Matter previously reported that leaders exchanged texts about "barking from our friends in Austin" before removing an anti-ICE exhibition by artist Victor "Marka27" Quiñonez. At UT Austin, records showed officials scrutinized an anti-fascist student art show.

Hinojosa's office will also run the state's film incentive program. Senate Bill 22 directs the comptroller to deposit $300 million in sales tax revenue into the program's fund at the start of each two-year budget until the fund ends August 31, 2035, a Legislative Budget Board fiscal note shows.

State law lets the governor's film office deny a grant "because of inappropriate content or content that portrays Texas or Texans negatively, as determined by the office." Gov. Rick Perry's administration used the provision in 2012 to deny a grant to the film Machete Kills, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recounted in a later ruling.

Hinojosa, Talarico and Goodwin voted for SB 22 when the House passed it 114-26 in May 2025. In the Senate, Johnson voted for the final version, while Middleton and state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, who won the comptroller's race and would make the fund's deposits, voted against it. Abbott let the bill become law without his signature.

The governor also appoints the nine members of the Texas Commission on the Arts, with Senate consent, and names its presiding officer, who serves at the governor's pleasure, state law shows.

Commissioners vote on the agency's grants. They approved 1,143 grants worth more than $17 million in 131 Texas cities on September 3, the agency said. The commission's fiscal 2026 award from the NEA was $1,514,538, its operating budget shows.

Patrick and Buckingham remain defendants, with Alamo Trust, in former Alamo Trust president Kate Rogers' First Amendment lawsuit over her 2023 doctoral dissertation. A federal judge in San Antonio stayed the case August 27 while the two officials appeal. The General Land Office, which Flores will lead, operates the Alamo.

Talarico, a former middle school teacher, filed bills in 2023 and 2025 to give public schools dedicated state money for fine arts classes. Neither became law.

The 2023 bill would have paid districts extra for each student in grades 6 through 12 enrolled in an approved fine arts course, with the largest weight for middle school students. It required those courses to provide at least 225 minutes of instruction a week.

The Legislative Budget Board estimated it would cost $5.3 billion in its first year, its fiscal note shows.

"This means hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding for music, dance, art, and theater programs!" Talarico wrote on X in 2023. "It's a game changer."

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