Texas Governor Greg Abbott has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa. She seeks access to confidential communications between his office and Elon Musk’s companies. Abbott described the lawsuit as a ‘lazy political stunt.’ Hinojosa, a state representative, filed the lawsuit on the first day of early voting in Texas. It followed Abbott’s office denying her request to see unredacted records related to Musk and his businesses in Texas.
Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott’s press secretary, stated, ‘The lawsuit is baseless and nothing more than an act of desperation. Texans see this for what it is: a political stunt.’ After casting his early ballot in Del Valle, Abbott criticized Hinojosa’s motives. He accused her of trying to attract attention to her campaign. ‘What Gina is trying to do more than anything else is to try to get attention for her and her campaign,’ Abbott said. ‘This election has slipped through her hands and she doesn’t have any ability to do anything else other than to grasp at straws to get attention.’
Newsweek has contacted both Abbott and Hinojosa’s teams for comment.
Reasons Behind Hinojosa’s Lawsuit
Hinojosa argues that her role as a state lawmaker entitles her to review the communications. ‘The people of Texas and the people of House District 49 are concerned over the growing power of tech giants in Texas regarding our tax dollars, resources, and data,’ she stated in a September 29 request. Outside the Travis County courthouse, Hinojosa claimed the issue was about government transparency and Musk’s influence in Texas. ‘I don’t think there’s a torrid love affair between Greg Abbott and Elon Musk,’ she remarked. ‘What this is about is the fact that Elon Musk gave Greg Abbott half a million dollars for his campaign and then received $1.7 billion in property tax breaks.’
Musk’s business interests in Texas include SpaceX, Tesla, X, Starlink, The Boring Company, Neuralink, and xAI. Campaign finance records show Musk contributed $500,000 to Abbott’s campaign in May.
The Content of the Confidential Documents
The lawsuit revolves around 2025 public records requests by The Texas Newsroom. These sought communications between Abbott’s office and Musk or his companies. According to the lawsuit, Abbott’s office refused to release the records, citing legal protections like attorney-client privilege. In August 2025, the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton supported these objections but ordered the release of certain materials.
The office provided 1,374 pages of documents. However, according to Hinojosa’s lawsuit, only about 200 pages were unredacted, leaving most correspondence hidden. On September 29, Hinojosa asked to inspect the withheld material under a Texas law. This law allows lawmakers to review certain confidential records for legislative purposes. Her request included a provision to see the documents ‘without any redactions whatsoever.’
Abbott’s lawyers argued that Hinojosa’s request aimed to benefit her gubernatorial campaign rather than legislative purposes. They claimed it was ‘calculated to benefit Plaintiff personally in her campaign for Governor.’ Hinojosa also mentioned reports of potential sales of Boca Chica State Park to Musk’s SpaceX.
The lawsuit emerges as Abbott seeks a fourth term. He has intensified his attacks on Hinojosa as the race appears to tighten.
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