Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa's transition team is being led by a Harris County Democrat and Republican who voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Over the last several months, her team has been meeting with policy leaders and others, she said, “planning and making sure that we were prepared to govern. This is a transition for the whole state of Texas. As such, we will have many opportunities for people to weigh in with their ideas.

“We will have a bipartisan transition, and we will have a bipartisan administration and government in Texas,” she said at a press conference in Austin. The members of her transition team bring decades of experience serving Texans and “demonstrate my commitment to putting money in the pocket of Texans, making sure that we have opportunities for good jobs, recruitment for hardworking Texans, and for this to be a transition that truly represents all of Texas.”

Hinojosa defeated three-term Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday in a major upset.

Post-election analysis and exit polls show that Republicans, Independents and Libertarians joined Democrats to vote for candidates they would not normally support.

Abbott, who was running for his fourth term, lost his first election of his political career.

Hinojosa, a former school board president and state lawmaker, won 52% of the vote, defeating Abbott by seven points.

She won after appealing to “populists,” arguing Abbott was controlled by billionaires and the world’s first trillionaire, Elon Musk. Musk donated more than $5.5 million to his campaign. Billionaire Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was the largest individual donor to Hinojosa’s campaign, contributing more than $1.2 million.

Throughout her campaign, she blamed Abbott for the high cost of living and other increased costs, vowing to send all Texans a check for $1,500. Her stated priority is to strengthen Texas public schools, end the state’s newly created Education Savings Account voucher program, and fire the Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath.

Her new “By and For the People” transition team’s priority, she said, is to help lower costs for Texas families, strengthen public schools and “create a back-to-basics governance that works for the people.”

The team is led by outgoing Democratic Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s former chief of staff, Joe Madden. Under Hidalgo, crime increased, taxes skyrocketed and the streets and water system in Houston are in disrepair. She leaves the county in $180 million in debt and presided over the Democratic-controlled county commissioner’s court passing one of the largest property tax increases in county history.

Madden “brings more than two decades of experience across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including senior leadership roles in the Texas Legislature and Harris County government,” his transition team bio states. “His work spans shaping and advancing legislation, coordinating emergency response, and managing government operations.”

Joining him as transition cochair is Republican Ernest Bailes, one of nearly two dozen House Republicans who opposed Abbott’s ESA bill. Bailes, representing constituents in a rural area, opposed it in support of public schools, which are the primary employer in rural communities. He was also targeted by Republicans who accused him of advancing an “illegal alien colonia,” a now disproven claim propagated by paid social media influencers and far-right websites that claimed a north Houston neighborhood was controlled by the cartels. This claim was disproven, including through exclusive reporting by The Center Square.

Bailes served in the Texas House for eight years alongside Hinojosa and was also one of 60 House Republicans who voted to impeach outgoing AG Paxton. Paxton’s former staff and impeachment defense attorney endorsed his opponent, Democrat James Talarico, who defeated him.

A fifth-generation East Texas rancher and businessman, Bailes has extensive experience in agriculture, residential and commercial construction and real estate.

Another transition cochair is Ryan Pollock, Executive Director of the Texas State Building and Construction Trades Council, where he represents affiliated construction unions. His work involves issues affecting the skilled trades, workforce development, infrastructure investment, and major construction projects across Texas.

Hinojosa has said she wanted to prioritize union workers building data centers in Texas, The Center Square reported.

Having Pollock on the team “demonstrates my commitment to putting money in the pockets of Texans, making sure that we have opportunities for good jobs and recruitment for hardworking Texans,” she said.

Hinojosa said an invaluable senior advisor on her campaign and the transition team is Tamala Barksdale. She served with Barksdale on the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees. While on the board, she said they balanced the budget, cut the tax rate, and met state accountability standards.

This year, Hinojosa supported increasing property taxes in the district, The Center Square reported. This is after the district reported repeated failing grades and has a nearly $200 million deficit, The Center Square reported.

Hinjosa, Barksdale and other Democratic leaders oppose the state taking over failing public schools despite state law requiring the TEA to do so.