From Mexico to History: The Families That Led Two Latinos to Govern California and Texas

The November 2026 midterm elections marked a milestone in the United States with the victories of Democrats Xavier Becerra in California and Gina Hinojosa in Texas, who will take office in 2027 as governors of the two most populous states in the country. The report published under that title by El Hispano portrays the stories of migration, work, and activism of the Mexican families who cemented the path of both leaders toward historic executive positions.

Xavier Becerra and the Californian Dream (California)

• Roots between Jalisco and Tijuana: His mother, María Teresa, emigrated from Guadalajara (Jalisco), while his father, Manuel Guerrero Becerra, was born in the U.S. but grew up in Tijuana, where he worked from childhood shining shoes.
• Working-class effort: Back in California, Manuel worked in the fields, on the railroad, and in road construction, while his wife supported the family home in Sacramento with administrative jobs.
• From Stanford to the governorship: Becerra was the first college graduate in his family, earning degrees in Economics and Law from Stanford; after serving as a congressman, attorney general, and Secretary of Health, he defeated Republican Steve Hilton.

Gina Hinojosa and border activism (Texas)

• Potosino and Texan origin: Raised in the Rio Grande Valley (McAllen and Brownsville), she is the daughter of Crisanta Guerra Lozano, a native of San Luis Potosí, and the lawyer and former Texas Democratic leader Gilberto Hinojosa.
• Legacy of labor defense: Both parents dedicated their legal careers to defending the civil and labor rights of agricultural workers and immigrants, shaping their daughter's vocation as a union lawyer.
• Breakthrough in a conservative stronghold: Hinojosa defeated Republican Governor Greg Abbott, becoming the first Latina to govern Texas and the first Democrat to lead the state since Ann Richards in 1995.

Both triumphs reflect the generational evolution of the Mexican-American community in the country's Southwest: from the agricultural and industrial work of the first generation to legal advocacy and the front lines of state political power.