Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday appointed Don Huffines, a former Republican state senator, to be comptroller of public accounts for the rest of the year, after the agency’s acting head, Kelly Hancock, steps down at the end of the month.
Hancock submitted his resignation letter to the governor on Wednesday. Huffines is currently running to serve a full term and defeated Hancock for the GOP nomination in March. He faces state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, in the November general election.
“Don Huffines brings the right mix of business experience and conservative principles to this vital office,” Abbott said in a statement announcing the appointment. “His private-sector experience and dedication to limited government make him exceptionally qualified to lead the state’s finances and protect every taxpayer dollar with integrity and accountability.”
Huffines, a 68-year-old businessman from the Dallas area, said he was honored to be tapped by the governor and intended to keep campaigning ahead of the fall election, “listening to Texans and working for every vote.”
The appointment returns Huffines, a GOP firebrand, to public office after being unseated in 2018 from the Texas Senate and failing to beat Abbott when he challenged the governor in the 2022 GOP primary, running to the right of the state’s top elected official.
The relationship between the two has since been smoothed over. After Huffines won the primary earlier this year against a field that included Hancock, who had Abbott’s support, Huffines told the Tribune that he and the governor had a “very nice conversation” and were aligned in working to defeat Democrats in the midterms.
Eckhardt blasted the appointment. She said Huffines “can’t win on his own” and accused the governor of skirting voters to place him in the seat before the election.
“I am running to break the 30 year cycle of corporate greed and favoritism and
be a fair watchdog for the people’s money — not another lapdog for the rich and
powerful,” the senator said in a statement.
The comptroller is responsible for numerous financial duties on behalf of the state, such as collecting taxes, auditing state agency spending, managing contracts and estimating revenue, a figure the Legislature uses to draft the state’s budget every two years.
The office is also charged with administering the state’s new $1 billion program to give parents vouchers to send their children to private schools and pay for homeschooling and other education expenses. The comptroller has large discretion over how the program is implemented so long as it is in accordance with state law.
Huffines has long supported vouchers and said he is excited about the prospect of running the initiative, championed by Abbott and formally known as Texas Education Freedom Accounts.
A self-branded “MAGA warrior,” Huffines won his primary with promises to DOGE Texas, ensure no state funds are being received by undocumented people and end what he sees as “woke” ideology.
“It’s a new day for Texas. I will change the culture in Austin so everyone knows the money belongs to the people, not the government,” Huffines said in a statement. “My commitment is simple: run government lean, protect every tax dollar, and keep Texas the best place to live, work, raise a family, and run a business.”
This story previously appeared in the Texas Tribune.
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