A Texas rural newspaper publisher who endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa in an October 31 Dallas Morning News opinion column had a paid consulting relationship with Hinojosa’s campaign that the column did not disclose.
Campaign finance transactions compiled by Transparency USA list $57,000 in consulting payments to Bellsynder Group LLC in 2026.
The newspaper subsequently acknowledged in a November 1 editor’s note that it would not have published the endorsement had editors known about the relationship. The disclosure dispute emerged just days before Hinojosa faces Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in the November 3 election.
The October 31 column, titled “I’m a Republican, but Gina Hinojosa has my vote,” identified author Suzanne Bellsnyder as “former Republican legislative staffer and editor of the Texas Rural Reporter.” Bellsnyder confirmed to the Dallas Morning News after publication that she worked as a paid consultant for the Hinojosa campaign.
The Dallas Morning News added an editor’s note on November 1, 2026, acknowledging the undisclosed consulting relationship in Suzanne Bellsnyder’s October 31 endorsement of Gina Hinojosa. | Screenshot by The Dallas Express
“Had we been aware of this conflict, we would have declined to publish this piece. We regret that we were not,” the newspaper stated in its November 1 editor’s note.
Despite acknowledging that it would have rejected the column had editors known about the undisclosed financial relationship, The Dallas Morning News left the endorsement online. The Dallas Express independently confirmed on November 2 that the column remained accessible.
Transparency USA’s itemized records show that the Hinojosa campaign paid Bellsynder Group LLC $6,000 on June 3, $6,000 on September 1, $22,500 on September 8, and $22,500 on October 1. Each entry identifies the expenditure category as “Consulting Expense.”
The Texas Democratic Party also promoted Bellsnyder’s endorsement, presenting her as a former Republican legislative and Abbott campaign staffer who supported Hinojosa. The party’s post did not disclose her consulting relationship with the Hinojosa campaign.
The Dallas Express previously examined Hinojosa’s campaign financing, including $1.2 million in contributions from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and advertising support from Texas Majority PAC, which previously received funding from George Soros. That reporting also documented financial contributions to Abbott’s reelection campaign.
The Dallas Morning News also no longer operates under local ownership.
New York-based Hearst Corporation completed its acquisition of the newspaper on September 24, 2025, ending approximately 140 years of local ownership. As The Dallas Express previously documented, the acquisition left The Dallas Express as the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s only major locally owned and independently operated news outlet. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram also operates under out-of-state corporate ownership.
