Texas Democrat Pins Epstein Files Delays
on Abbott's Manipulation of CD 18 Election
Capitol Inside
February 22, 2026
Austin State Rep. Gina Hinojosa - the prohibitive favorite for the Democrats in a bid for the top Texas political post - argued on Sunday that Governor Greg Abbott's second endorsement from President Donald Trump in three months was payoff for sandbagging the release of the Epstein files with his maneuvering in a special congressional election.
Hinojosa pointed out in a social media post that the president endorsed Abbott initially on the same day in November that U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed that the chamber was close to having a sufficient number votes to force the release of information on disgraced financier and child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
But Hinojosa contended that Abbott was buying time for Trump in a frantic attempt to block the Epstein files release by allowing the Congressional District 18 seat in the Houston area to remain vacant for nearly a year after Democrat Sylvester Turner's death in March as the representative there.
Instead of declaring the opening in CD 18 to be an emergency for the sake of filling the seat as quickly as possible, the Texas governor waited eight months before setting a special election in November for a contest that appeared to be destined for overtime from the start. Abbott scheduled the CD 18 runoff for January 31 - almost 11 entire months after it became vacant with Turner's passing.
"Greg Abbott had blocked the release of the Epstein files by postponing the Houston election for Congressman Sylvester Turner’s replacement for 6+ months," Hinojosa declared in a post on X complete with a copy of an endorsement that Trump served up for the governor this weekend. "This would have been the final vote needed to release the Epstein files."
Democrat Christian Menefee gave Democrats the vote they needed to force the Trump administration's hand on Epstein when he won the special CD 18 runoff on January 31. Hinojosa - and the Democrats who are vying for the nomination in the U.S. Senate race - are seizing now on the furor over Epstein ties in ways that are fueling mounting fears among the Republicans about the potential for a blue wave in the fall.
Abbott and his allies in the Texas Legislature have kept their lips sealed collectively throughout Trump's attempts to prevent the public from seeing the information on Epstein and the connections that he cultivated among the political and business elite before he went to prison and died there in 2019.
Former Texas Senate Republican Don Huffines found himself dragged into the saga this month as a candidate for state comptroller amid revelations that his family purchased Epstein's Zorro ranch near Santa Fe several years after his death at a public auction. But Huffines has offered to cooperate with state and local authorities who are launching investigations into the possibility that the bodies of girls who were Epstein victims were buried on the property that a corporation that his family controls owns now in New Mexico.
Huffines has appeared to be the leading frontrunner for the GOP in the statewide race on the primary ballot that features the incumbent Comptroller Kelly Hancock and Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick in the field. The Huffines campaign could escape any significant damage from the newfound link to Epstein if no other evidence emerges to show a relationship beyond the singular transfer of property from his estate.
But Abbott and the other Republicans on the Texas ballot can expect Democrats to use Epstein as a major weapon to use against them in fall fights based simply on an association with the dead sex trafficker as a function of partisan affiliation if nothing else. Hinojosa demonstrated that Abbott is vulnerable to Epstein-related attacks with the accusations she lodged today in connection with the governor's official actions in the special election for CD 18.
While Abbott had kept his name out of the Epstein conversation up to now, he could feel compelled to confront the issue at some point if Hinojosa appears to be gaining traction with the new line of attack. Hinojosa's colleague from the Capitol City - State Rep. James Talarico - gave Republicans a preview on Saturday night of what to expect in the fall on Epstein if he's the Democratic nominee for the seat that Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn is fighting to keep.
"Trump is in the Epstein files 38,000 times," Talarico said in a post on X. "He flew on Epstein’s private jet — and lied about it. He wrote to Epstein about their “wonderful secret.” QAnon thought Trump was going to take down the secret pedophile ring — but he's right in the middle of it."
more to come ...
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