Paper’s ‘Republican’ Voice For Dem Had Campaign Job She Forgot To Mention

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The Dallas Morning News published a glowing opinion piece praising Texas Democrat gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa. The author was

billed as a "longtime Republican" and former staffer for Republican lawmakers.

There was just one problem: the author was on Hinojosa's payroll.

After the column ran, writer Suzanne Bellsnyder told the paper she was a paid consultant to the Hinojosa campaign. She hadn't mentioned that when she submitted the piece or while it was being edited.

The paper published an editor's note on top admitting it "would have declined to publish" the column had it known, but the column itself is still sitting on the Dallas Morning News website for all to read just before Texans head to the polls.

There it is, @dallasnews. pic.twitter.com/PVOg0kDaXI
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) November 2, 2026

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The column itself reads like a campaign ad. Bellsnyder, who describes herself as a rural newspaper publisher and former GOP legislative staffer, opens with this scene: she was riding shotgun on her dad's tractor in the Panhandle when Hinojosa entered into her DMs asking for help with a bill to boost oversight of the Texas Education Agency.

Bellsnyder painted the Austin Democrat as a bridge-builder who "started with what we agreed on." She hammered Abbott for turning his school voucher crusade into a "loyalty test" that purged rural Republicans. She warned that in Texas, the public school is "the beating heart" of the community.

"When Gina reached out to me on that tractor, she began building trust. Politically, we root for different teams. But as two moms, we found that we shared a passion for public education and preparing our kids for the future they deserve. That is the kind of leadership Texas needs," Bellsnyder concluded.

Hinojosa, a state rep from Austin, won the Democrat primary in March and is trying to unseat Abbott, who is running for a record-setting fourth term on Tuesday.