Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa will need to fill dozens of important seats on state boards, agencies and commissions during her first year in office and could make about 1,500 appointments across nearly 260 boards and commissions during her four-year term.
The question some community leaders are asking is how many of those positions will be filled by El Pasoans, hoping that Democrats recently elected to top positions statewide will bring stronger representation than what it’s had for years under Republicans.
The answer could depend on demographics or qualifications, as well as trust and relationships, according to an academic, a current state committee member and some of El Paso’s elected officials.
Representation on these state bodies could influence policies and funding priorities that directly impact the region, especially given El Paso’s unique challenges and opportunities as a border community, they said. The list of entities includes such fields as healthcare, legal, financial, public safety, state oversight, transportation, higher education and public education, natural resources, and economic development.
Ted Houghton, president and founder of El Paso-based Houghton Financial Partners, has served on state committees for most of the past 26 years. He said the region loses influence by not having representatives on state boards.
“If you’re not at the table, you get bypassed,” Houghton said. “You get overlooked or you get, I hate to say it, you get the scraps. We’re so far out here on the western frontier that it’s a lot of ‘out of sight, out of mind.’”
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, told El Paso Matters that she texted Hinojosa on election night to tell her about the many talented El Pasoans who stand ready to serve her and her administration as appointees.
“I fully expect that she will seek out diverse, talented Texans, and El Pasoans will be among them,” Escobar said as part of an email interview. “I certainly will do what I can to encourage and promote good people.”
A seat at the table
The public can submit their resumes, cover letters and mark their areas of interest through Hinojosa’s “By and For the People” application process. Her transition team will look for people to fill staff positions, policy roles, and future state agency or board appointments.
The Hinojosa camp did not respond to requests for comment about the selection process. Her official appointment power begins after she is inaugurated into office Jan. 19.
In many cases, the committee appointment terms are for six years, and most of those terms will expire in the first three months of odd-numbered years. Appointees are reimbursed for meals, travel and lodging based on U.S. General Services Administration guidelines.
State Rep. Mary Gonzalez, whose District 75 encompasses the eastern and southern parts of El Paso County, recommended that people apply through Hinojosa’s website, review the open or appointed positions and mark those that interest them, and set up a meeting when Hinojosa’s appointment team is designated in a few months.
“Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa has lots of things to consider, and we need to be at the table,” Gonzalez said in a statement to El Paso Matters.
Building relationships key to success
One of the first things El Paso leaders need to do is to get to really know Hinojosa and members of her leadership team, said Houghton, the financial consultant.
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Houghton to a six-year term on the Texas Historical Commission in 2023. Former Gov. Rick Perry selected Houghton for the Texas General Land Office School Land Board in 2001. The businessman left that assignment two years later after Perry appointed him to the Texas Transportation Commission, where he served for 12 years, the last four as chairman.
Houghton said that a number of El Pasoans got to know Perry when he ran for lieutenant governor in 1998 and continued to support him when he became governor after George W. Bush resigned following his election as president.
The businessman said the initial appointment to the land office led to meetings with legislators and state leaders and that morphed into his next assignment with the transportation committee, which coincided with several major Texas Department of Transportation projects in El Paso.
Those projects, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars, included Spur 601 that connected the Northeast to the Eastside, the Americas Interchange at Interstate 10 and Loop 375, and improvements to Loop 375 at I-10 on the Westside and at U.S. Highway 54 in the Northeast.
“Relationships that you build are the key to our success I believe,” Houghton said.
The process under Abbott is similar to any job application. It starts with the application that asks for typical personal background, academic and employment history, references, volunteer work, and military service. It also asks which “entities,” or boards, commissions or task forces that interest the applicant.
The application goes on to ask for the social media platforms the person uses, as well as some financial background and information about the applicant’s spouse.
The governor’s Appointment Office will review the applicants’ backgrounds and qualifications. In most cases, the applicant’s state senator will need to support the appointment before the governor makes a final nomination that must be approved by the Senate.
The submitted applications are kept on file. An appointment officer will review the applications when there is an opening on a board that interested the applicant.
El Paso left out of significant boards
An El Paso Matters analysis from January 2022 to January 2024 showed that only 19 of the 866 gubernatorial appointments to state boards made by Abbott went to El Pasoans. Additionally, not all those boards were considered significant, which means they did not make major policy or spending decisions.
Among the key boards that affect the region include the boards of regents for the University of Texas and Texas Tech University systems, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, and the Texas Transportation Commission.
State Rep. Vince Perez said the best thing he can do at this point to get more El Pasoans on state boards is to identify those who have skills and knowledge in different fields and be ready to support their candidacies.
“I’ll try to amplify the voice of the people I represent; the people of El Paso,” said Perez, whose District 77 runs from the Westside to the Lower Valley.
Perez expects the makeup of the state’s boards to better reflect Texas’ diverse population economically and racially. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that Texas is about 60% minority including Hispanics, Blacks and Asians.
The legislator said that diversity on boards and commissions was missing under Abbott, who Perez said used a “pay-to-play system” where high-level appointments were given to high-dollar contributors to the governor.
“I’m not concerned that El Paso is going to get left behind,” Perez said.
Abbott’s press office did not respond to a request for comment.
There is no up-to-date public tally that can tell which of the thousands of individuals that Abbott has appointed to hundreds of boards had donated at least $100,000 to his campaigns.
However, a 2022 investigation by The Texas Tribune found that 30% of Abbott’s 114 appointees to nine public university system boards of regents and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. This included spouses or companies where the appointee was the CEO. In all, more than 70% of those higher education appointees had donated some amount to Abbott. Today there are seven public university systems.
Besides Houghton, other current El Paso appointees to state boards are business attorney Pat Gordon, who serves on the Texas Transportation Commission; funeral home CEO Salvador Perches Jr. on the Funeral Services Commission; Texas director of development for Sundt Construction Angelica Rosales on the Commission for Women; and former longtime GECU CEO Crystal Long on the Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors.
El Pasoans also currently serve on commissions on fire protection, aerospace and aviation, and small business assistance, among others.
Confirmation: The big hurdle
The issue is not the appointees but the confirmation process, said Hyung Park, professor of government at El Paso Community College whose research specialty is elections.
Many appointments will need Senate approval. When the Legislature opens in January, the Republicans will hold a 19-12 majority. Nominated appointees will need a two-thirds majority, or 16 senators, and the GOP-led body may try to block some of Hinojosa’s appointments.
Park said his eye is on El Paso’s State Sen. César Blanco, whose District 29 encompasses eight counties, and how he can support possible appointees. The professor expects there will be lots of negotiations with the Republicans, lots of political strategy and persuasiveness.
“The big hurdle will be the confirmation from the Senate,” he said during a phone interview.
That being said, Park added that Hinojosa could make recess appointments if her selections are not approved during the Legislature’s 140-day session.
Blanco did not respond to requests for comment.
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