MCALLEN, TX — The longtime leader of the Texas Democratic Party announced his resignation Friday after another election cycle of lopsided defeats and voters making a dramatic swing to the GOP on the heavily Hispanic southern border.

Gilberto Hinojosa, a Rio Grande Valley native, has served as chairman of the Texas Democratic Party since 2012. During that time, Democrats failed to win any statewide offices and lost badly in key elections Tuesday.

All but two counties along the Texas-Mexico border, long considered Democratic strongholds, turned red for Trump. It included Hidalgo and Cameron, the two most populous counties in the Rio Grande Valley. President-elect Donald Trump easily won Texas by 14 points, more than double his margin of victory in 2020 and a sign of eroding Democratic support.

Hinojosa said he would resign in March 2025.

“In the days and weeks ahead, it is imperative that our Democratic leaders across the country reassess what is best for our party and welcome the next generation of leaders to guide us through the next four years of Trump and win back seats up and down. the ballot,” Hinojosa said.

His announcement also comes just one day after he apologized for comments he made to Austin public radio station KUT after Tuesday’s election. “You could, for example, support transgender rights in every category where the issue arises, or you could understand that there are some things that we’re going too far on, that a lot of our population doesn’t support not. »,Hinojosa told KUT.

Hinojosa later apologized on social media, saying LGBTQ+ people in Texas “deserve to feel seen, valued and safe in our state and our party.”