Dallas Paper: 'Republican' Who Backed Hinojosa Was Her Paid Consultant

The Dallas Morning News says it would not have published a weekend column billed as a Republican’s endorsement of Democrat Gina Hinojosa for Texas governor had it known the author was a paid consultant to Hinojosa’s campaign, according to an editor’s note the paper added on Nov. 1.

The column, pitched in its headline as a Republican’s vote for Hinojosa, ran Oct. 31 under the byline of Suzanne Bellsnyder, whom the paper identified as a rural newspaper publisher, former Republican legislative staffer and editor of the Texas Rural Reporter. In the piece, Bellsnyder described herself as a longtime Republican and former campaign staffer for Gov. Greg Abbott, and she urged readers to back Hinojosa, who faces Abbott in Tuesday’s election.

https://t.co/REJd9LJWxq

— Tony Ortiz (Current Revolt) (@CurrentRevolt) November 2, 2026

According to the editor’s note, Bellsnyder confirmed to the paper after publication that she is a paid consultant of the Hinojosa campaign and had not disclosed that when she submitted the column or while it was being edited. The paper wrote that it would have declined to publish the piece had it known about the conflict, and that it regrets it did not.

$57,000 in consulting payments

Campaign finance records compiled by Transparency USA list $57,000 in consulting payments from the Hinojosa campaign to Bellsynder Group LLC in 2026, according to The Dallas Express. The outlet reported four payments, all labeled “Consulting Expense”: $6,000 on June 3, $6,000 on Sept. 1, $22,500 on Sept. 8 and $22,500 on Oct. 1. The campaign’s filings spell the firm’s name “Bellsynder.”

The Daily Wire reported that Heritage Foundation researcher Corey DeAngelis flagged the $57,000 in payments, and that critics have called on the paper to remove the column entirely.

Tony Ortiz of Current Revolt, who reached Bellsnyder by phone, reported that she said her company runs rural outreach for the Hinojosa campaign and that the work grew to include a full field team in September. According to Current Revolt, Bellsnyder said the op-ed was her own and “not within the scope of that project,” and she confirmed that the Hinojosa campaign knew she was writing it. Current Revolt reported that she could not say whether the campaign reviewed the column before she submitted it.

Current Revolt also reported that Bellsnyder included a disclosure in an Aug. 1 column about Hinojosa’s pitch to rural Texas, written after she joined the candidate and her campaign team one Sunday.

Paper’s response, and the column stays up

In a statement to Current Revolt, The Dallas Morning News said, “We were unaware Suzanne Bellsnyder was working for the Hinojosa campaign. We believed her column to be her independent opinion as a journalist and voter. Had we been aware of her work for the campaign, we would have declined the column.”

Despite that, the column remains online with the editor’s note at the top. The Dallas Express said it independently confirmed on Nov. 2 that the piece was still accessible.

The Dallas Express also reported that the Texas Democratic Party promoted the column, presenting Bellsnyder as a former Republican legislative and Abbott campaign staffer backing Hinojosa, without noting her consulting relationship with the campaign.

The episode lands one day before Texans vote. A column sold to readers as a Republican crossing party lines turned out, by the paper’s own account, to come from someone on the Democratic candidate’s payroll, and the paper has chosen to leave it published. For voters trying to weigh endorsements in the campaign’s final hours, the disclosure the paper added after the fact is the most important line in the piece.

Sources

• The Dallas Morning News: column and Nov. 1 editor’s note
• The Dallas Express
• Current Revolt
• The Daily Wire

Reporting by Daily Beltway.