Gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa holds press conference in El Paso, speaks on issues - KFOX

Hinojosa, who is running against incumbent Greg Abbott, focused her remarks on what she called an unchecked data center expansion across Texas. She said companies are feeding regulators and the public incomplete information, then quietly revising their projections upward. "Initially it's a certain amount of water, then it's more water. Initially it's a certain amount of electricity," she said, describing a pattern she argued amounts to companies gaming the process.

For folks in Lubbock, this isn't abstract. The South Plains sits inside the same ERCOT grid that's already strained during summer heat waves. The Ogallala Aquifer supplies water to farms and households across this region. Any surge in industrial water and power consumption tied to data centers lands on infrastructure that people here already worry about.

Hinojosa called the data center industry's expansion "uncharted territory," signaling she plans to make regulatory transparency a central piece of her campaign platform heading into the 2026 race.

Texas currently has no statewide disclosure law requiring data centers to report water or electricity usage projections before breaking ground.