Gina Hinojosa focuses on kitchen table issues as polls show the Texas Governor's race within five percentage points - CBS News

Hinojosa is leaning into that momentum by centering her campaign on inflation and cost of living, the top concern among Texas voters according to statewide polling. "Everyone's done with the culture wars," she said. "It's about kitchen table issues. That's what this campaign is about." Abbott is a three-term Republican incumbent, and closing a gap of that size in two months is not something that happens in most Texas governor's races.

For people in Lubbock, where grocery bills and housing costs have climbed steadily, the shift in the race's framing matters. West Texas has long been deep-red territory, but the undecided numbers are striking. Ten percent of all voters haven't made up their minds, and 38 percent of Independents are still in the air. That is a wide-open lane for either candidate.

The Real Clear Politics polling average covering June 3 through August 24 also showed Abbott ahead, though the trend lines are moving in Hinojosa's direction heading into the fall stretch.