Gilberto Hinojosa, the state Democratic Party’s newly elected chairman, is a 59-year-old Brownsville attorney and former Cameron County judge.

He’s the first Latino party chairman.

“The difference between them and us (Republicans),” he told delegates in his acceptance speech, “is that we love Texas. All of Texas.”

“Gilberto is a proven Democratic leader,” said state Rep. Marc Veasey, a congressional candidate from Fort Worth. “He’s tough, he’s a coalition-builder and he gets along with people. I think he’ll be a great chairman.”

Hinojosa told reporters Saturday that his grandparents came to the Texas Rio Grande Valley from Mexico in 1912, fleeing that country’s long-running revolution. His mother was born in the United States, the child of migrant farm workers. His father grew up in Monterrey, but was born accidentally in McAllen, where his mother happened to be visiting relatives. As a U.S. citizen, his father was drafted into the U.S. Army toward the end of World War II.

Hinojosa, who grew up in Mission, has one brother who is an architect and another who is an engineer. All three are the first in their family to hold positions in their respective professions.

He told reporters Saturday afternoon he wasn’t worried about his party holding on to the Hispanic vote in the coming years. “Our biggest ally in that effort are Republicans,” he said. “They’re helping us keep our vote together. We just need them to go out and vote.”

Hinojosa also said he believes that Harris County in 2012 “has a good chance of turning blue.”