Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for Texas governor, has filed a lawsuit against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, seeking answers about his communications with billionaire Elon Musk as early voting continues across the state.
Hinojosa said the legal action is aimed at demanding more information about emails and redacted documents between the governor, Musk and his companies.
In September, Hinojosa filed a public information request for the records. According to a news release from Hinojosa’s team, Abbott’s office assembled and reviewed 1,374 pages of records, and “all but about 200 pages were redacted or completely blacked out.”
Abbott has refused to release the records, calling them “too ‘intimate and embarrassing’ to be made public,” according to the release.
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“The people have a right to know and I, as a representative, have the right to see them,” Hinojosa said in an Instagram video.
The lawsuit, which was filed Monday, comes after recent reports that Musk has poured more than $150 million into GOP campaigns in Texas. The Texas Tribune reported Abbott has received “major data center-linked donations from megadonors,” including $500,000 from Musk.
Hinojosa is raising questions about what role, if any, those contributions may have in Abbott’s communications with the Tesla CEO.
In a statement, Abbott’s office said the lawsuit was “baseless.”
“This lawsuit is baseless and an act of desperation by a failing candidate,” the statement says. “It’s such a lazy political stunt that the case docket lists Greg Abbott as Attorney General instead of Governor when identifying who should receive the legal papers. Gina doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
Abbott, who has served as governor since 2015, is seeking a record fourth term. Hinojosa, an Austin state representative and civil rights attorney, is campaigning to unseat him.
Polls show a close race between the two. A YouGov poll surveying 3,625 registered Texas voters showed Hinojosa at 48% and Abbott at 47%. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, meaning neither candidate held a clear lead statistically.
Early voting runs through Oct. 30. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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