Governor-Elect Hinojosa Names a Bipartisan Transition Team - a Republican Voucher Critic, a Union Electrician, an Austin Trustee, and a Houston Hand Running It
Gina Hinojosa's first appointments say what kind of administration she intends to build. Her transition, 'By and For the People,' will be co-chaired by former Republican Rep. Ernest Bailes, who lost his seat for fighting school vouchers, and labor leader Ryan Pollock, advised by Austin trustee Tamala Barksdale - and run day to day by Houston's Joe Madden.
The transition from Greg Abbott to Gina Hinojosa got its first names on Thursday. The governor-elect introduced the four leaders of the team she calls 'By and For the People': co-chairs Ernest Bailes and Ryan Pollock, senior adviser Tamala Barksdale, and executive director Joe Madden, a Houston public affairs consultant who previously worked in the Texas Legislature and in Harris County government, where his portfolio included government transitions and emergency management. 'I am not going to be the governor for just Democrats,' Hinojosa said. 'I am going to be the Governor for all the people of Texas.'
Bailes is the appointment that proves the sentence. A conservative Republican rancher from Shepherd who represented House District 18 from 2017 to 2025, he was among the rural Republicans who joined Democrats to block Abbott's school voucher push in 2023 - and then lost his seat after Abbott backed a primary challenger against him in 2024. Hinojosa, who served alongside him in the House, called him a champion for public schools and one of her closest Republican allies on education, and said including a Republican was part of 'forging a new way forward.' Bailes answered in kind: 'We will put partisanship aside. We will work together for what is best for the kids of the state of Texas.'
The other chairs carry the campaign's other two promises. Pollock, a union electrician who runs the Texas State Building and Construction Trades Council, brings organized labor's seat at the table: 'This is about an economy that works for all Texans,' he said, through training that lets working Texans do the work 'safely and with dignity.' Barksdale, a former Austin ISD trustee who served with Hinojosa on that school board and worked on her campaign, reinforces the education center of the administration - Hinojosa campaigned on increasing public-school funding and replacing Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath with an educator, a promise she repeated this week, while the state's $1 billion Education Freedom Accounts voucher program remains in limbo.
The handoff itself, by her account, is already civil. Hinojosa said she has spoken with Abbott since Tuesday: 'Greg Abbott has been gracious. We are both committed to ensuring there is a smooth transition so that the people of Texas are taken care of.' Her team is expected to grow, with staff set to begin reviewing resumes and making further appointments in the coming weeks. She takes office on January 19, 2027 - and Houston should note who is running the machine that gets her there: the executive director is one of Harris County government's own.
