Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on Thursday appointed an immigration hard-liner and former political rival to be state comptroller, his latest move to unify the Republican Party by embracing its increasingly ascendant hard right faction.
The former rival, Don Huffines, has long been a figure on the right flank of Texas politics. He is a former state senator and Dallas-area real estate magnate who unsuccessfully challenged Mr. Abbott for re-election in 2022 by arguing that the governor was not sufficiently conservative.
But with Democrats newly energized behind what they believe will be a favorable national political moment this fall, Mr. Abbott and other Texas Republicans are attempting to put their intraparty fights behind them.
Mr. Huffines is also currently the Republican Party’s nominee for comptroller, having emerged from the Republican primary field in March. He defeated the acting comptroller, Kelly Hancock, whom Mr. Abbott appointed to the position and endorsed in the race. Mr. Hancock said this week that he would step down from the post at the end of the month.
In the announcement Thursday, Mr. Abbott said that Mr. Huffines brought “the right mix of business experience and conservative principles to this vital office” and had been a “proven conservative leader who puts taxpayers first.”
The office of comptroller, a statewide position that oversees the public accounts, has grown in political importance to the governor. It oversees Mr. Abbott’s signature and contentious new program of providing public money for private school education. The voucher program, strongly opposed by Democrats and some rural Republicans, has been ramping up for its first school year this fall.
Mr. Huffines was one of several primary candidates who defeated those backed by the governor. In the wake of the primary, Mr. Abbott, already a fervent conservative, has increasingly embraced the rising hard-line tide within the party. He spoke at the activist-led Republican Party of Texas convention last month for the first time in nearly a decade. He has also staked out hard right positions, including criticizing the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship decision this week.
Mr. Huffines also condemned the court’s decision, saying that as comptroller he would “use every legal option to work around” the decision.
“Your tax money has gone to educating, incarcerating, & giving ‘free’ healthcare to illegal aliens,” he wrote on social media. “As Comptroller, I’ll use every tool I have to stop it!”
By appointing Mr. Huffines ahead of the election, Mr. Abbott may also be attempting to smooth over his relationship with him and avoid future clashes. Mr. Huffines is likely to win in the fall — a Republican has not lost a statewide race in Texas since 1994.
During the campaign, Mr. Abbott endorsed Mr. Hancock and suggested that Mr. Huffines was the far weaker candidate in a general election.
“I want a candidate who will actually win the election, not someone who has already lost an election to a Democrat,” Mr. Abbott said in his endorsement at the time. (Mr. Huffines lost his re-election bid for state senator after one term to a Democrat during the last big Democratic wave in Texas in 2018.)
State Senator Sarah Eckhardt, the Democrat running for comptroller, said in an interview that the appointment would help her campaign by giving Texas voters a chance to see firsthand what Mr. Huffines would do in the office.
“This has elevated this race as nothing else could,” she said. “I think they’re trying to make him look statesmanlike, and I think it’s going to backfire.”
She said his promise to “DOGE” the office of comptroller — referring to the Trump administration’s aggressive attempts to root out wasteful government spending — would undermine the agency. She also said that Mr. Huffines would be “perfectly aligned” with Mr. Abbott on providing public money to private schools.
“Most people don’t know how important it is to have an independently elected comptroller in the state,” she said. “But the people of the state of Texas are about to find out.”
Ms. Eckhardt has promised to audit the governor’s voucher program, if elected.
A spokesman for the Huffines campaign declined to comment on his appointment. In a statement, sent by the governor’s office, Mr. Huffines promised to “run government lean, protect every tax dollar, and keep Texas the best place to live, raise a family and run a business.”
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