Gov. Greg Abbott’s longtime political strategist appears to be grasping for straws — and drawing criticism for being “creepy” — as he scours for dirt on state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic candidate for the state’s top elected office.
During an exchange earlier this week on social media platform X, Dave Carney — Abbott’s top campaign consultant for at least a decade — asked another user to supply him with photos allegedly showing Hinojosa “partying” as a high schooler attending a swim party.
The unsettling online back-and-forth began Tuesday in comments on a post by Texas Tribune journalist Kayla Guo, who reported on former President Barack Obama’s campaigning alongside Hinojosa and State Rep. James Talarico in Austin.
X user @ArrestedAustin commented that he knew Hinojosa when she attended Hanna Early College High School in Brownsville during the ’90s.
“Gina used to party hard when she was at Hanna, I believe there’s an old box with polaroids back at my mom’s house, a bunch of us would go swimming at the resaca off 281!” @ArrestedAustin wrote.
Carney then urged @ArrestedAustin to “please share” the photos of Hinojosa and her teenage friends.
“Just 90s teens doing valley stuff, partied in Matamoros a lot too,” @ArrestedAustin responded.
Hinojosa’s campaign told the Current that Carney’s request for photos of the teens was “weird” and “creepy” but declined further comment.
Indeed, asking for photos of underage girls at a swim party doesn’t appear to be the best look for a political strategist considering the controversy that continues to swirl around President Trump and the Epstein Files.
It also makes Carney, who’s built a career guiding cutthroat political campaigns, look desperate for something — anything — that might cast Hinojosa in a negative light.
Which is fair, considering recent polling shows Abbott trailing Hinojosa by 5 percentage points, despite having amassed a $100 million-plus war chest for his campaign.
Keep on digging, Carney.
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