{"id":144005,"date":"2026-01-30T11:47:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T11:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/144005\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T11:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T11:47:12","slug":"top-candidates-in-the-2026-texas-comptroller-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/144005\/","title":{"rendered":"Top candidates in the 2026 Texas comptroller primary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy<\/a>, and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: To help readers learn more about primary candidates, The Texas Tribune is sharing background information on top candidates. In particularly crowded races, we focused on candidates with political experience or demonstrably competitive campaigns, using benchmarks such as fundraising, endorsements and online presence. For a full list of candidates, view our primary ballot page<\/a>. For more information on the primaries and the voting process, check out our guides and news coverage here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About this elected seat: The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is the state\u2019s chief financial officer. Among the office\u2019s main responsibilities is collecting sales taxes from local government, managing hundreds of state contracts on behalf of other agencies and estimating the state\u2019s revenue and economy, which instructs the Legislature\u2019s budget drafting every two years. The office is also in charge of implementing a new $1 billion program<\/a> that will offer parents taxpayer-funded vouchers to send their kids to private schools and pay for educational expenses. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s at stake: The future of the office and the state, in some ways. For years Texas has benefited from a budget surplus \u2014 a financial fortune<\/a> added to the state\u2019s general revenue fund that\u2019s afforded the state opportunities to trim property taxes<\/a> some, boost teacher pay<\/a> and strengthen the state\u2019s crumbling water infrastructure<\/a>. This estimate comes from the comptroller.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whoever is at the helm of the office can also try expanding its authority, like in recent years when the office waded into more social issues \u2014 like investigations that scrutinized<\/a> drag shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Candidates at a glance:<\/p>\n

\"\"Campaign photo<\/p>\n

Kelly Hancock <\/p>\n

Republican, acting comptroller<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcb0 Campaign finance:<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcb0 Major donors this cycle:<\/p>\n

John Nau, beer distributor from Houston \u2014 $505,238.11<\/p>\n

Texans for Responsible Government PAC, a group launched by GOP megadonor couple from Hill Country Michael and Mary Porter \u2014 $75,000<\/p>\n

Experience: <\/p>\n

Served in the Texas statehouse for almost two decades, first in the House and later in the Senate<\/p>\n

Acting comptroller since July, overseeing the launch of the state\u2019s public school voucher program<\/p>\n

Former school board member<\/p>\n

Political ideology: <\/p>\n

Hancock supported both socially and fiscally conservative causes in the state Legislature. He was one of two GOP state senators<\/a> who voted in favor of impeaching Attorney General Ken Paxton for misusing his office. A majority of Texas Senate Republicans voted to acquit<\/a> Paxton of all articles.<\/p>\n

Policy stances:<\/p>\n

Reduce government spending, lowering taxes and investigating fraud <\/p>\n

Support the state\u2019s immigration clampdown along the Texas-Mexico border and beyond to stop illegal crossings<\/p>\n

Eliminate diversity and equity-aimed programs in state contracting <\/p>\n

In the news: <\/p>\n

Endorsements: <\/p>\n

Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a><\/p>\n

Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, the largest labor organization representing Texas law enforcement <\/p>\n

How to contact or learn more:
817-899-0892
info@kellyhancock.com
Texans for Kelly Hancock P.O. Box 11528 Austin, TX 78711<\/p>\n

\"\"Campaign photo<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcb0 Campaign finance:<\/p>\n

$11.7 million cash on hand<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcb0 Major donors this cycle:<\/p>\n

Phillip Huffines, his brother \u2014 $3 million <\/p>\n

Protect Freedom PAC, a group affiliated with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky \u2014 $500,000 <\/p>\n

Andrew Beal, founder and owner of the Beal Bank \u2014 $100,000<\/p>\n

Experience: <\/p>\n

He and his brother Phillip founded one of the largest real estate development companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Huffines Communities<\/p>\n

As a state senator, Huffines led a crusade<\/a> against the Dallas County Schools bus agency in the middle of allegations of poor financial management and not delivering the services it sold; a county-wide vote shut down the agency and the Dallas County Schools board president later pleaded guilty to tax evasion<\/p>\n

Challenged<\/a> Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a> in the 2022 GOP gubernatorial challenge. Although unsuccessful, he gained experience running a statewide campaign.<\/p>\n

Political ideology: <\/p>\n

Huffines is a MAGA Republican with libertarian and Christian roots. He has vowed to not take a state salary if he\u2019s elected comptroller, root out government waste and ensure no public money is used to benefit any undocumented immigrants. <\/p>\n

Policy stances:<\/p>\n

End government regulations that he says get in the way of job creation by burdening businesses<\/p>\n

DOGE-ing Texas by auditing government spending and reimbursing taxpayers through property tax relief<\/p>\n

Studying the cost of undocumented immigration on the state (The comptroller\u2019s office has not conducted such a study since 2006, when it found that such immigrants generated more revenue for the state than they cost the state through the use of services like education.)<\/p>\n

Implement the state\u2019s new school vouchers program with transparency<\/p>\n

Fix traffic on Texas roads by auditing highway construction contracts<\/p>\n

In the news: <\/p>\n

Endorsements: <\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz <\/a>of Texas<\/p>\n

Five sitting U.S. Representatives from Texas: Chip Roy, Wesley Hunt, Ronny Jackson, Keith Self, and Brandon Gill<\/p>\n

Jim \u201cMattress Mack\u201d McIngvale, owner of Gallery Furniture who has lent his backing to GOP candidates in recent years <\/p>\n

Kenny Webster, a young conservative radio host<\/p>\n

Texas Gun Rights<\/p>\n

How to contact or learn more:<\/p>\n

(214) 884-7025<\/p>\n

don@donhuffines.com<\/a><\/p>\n

6125 Luther Ln #294<\/p>\n

Dallas, Texas, 75225<\/p>\n

\"\"T Campaign photo<\/p>\n

Christi Craddick<\/p>\n

Republican<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcb0 Campaign finance:<\/p>\n

$2.8 million cash on hand<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcb0 Major donors this cycle:<\/p>\n

G. Brint Ryan, the chief executive of a Dallas tax firm \u2014 $250,000 (Dozens of Ryan\u2019s employees also donated to Craddick, contributing nearly $1 million to her bid) <\/p>\n

Javaid Anwar, major Texas oil donor \u2014 $200,000 <\/p>\n

NGL Texas PAC, the political action committee of a Tulsa oil and gas company \u2014 $125,000<\/p>\n

Experience: <\/p>\n

Served on the Railroad Commission of Texas since 2012<\/p>\n

Before running to be a railroad commissioner Craddick worked in energy<\/p>\n

She is an attorney from Midland<\/p>\n

Political ideology: <\/p>\n

Craddick, the daughter of former Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, is conservative. In her bid for comptroller, she has promised financial accountability to reduce government spending and to inspect local governments\u2019 budgets. <\/p>\n

Policy stances:<\/p>\n

Inspect all state contract invoices to tackle government fraud<\/p>\n

Scrutinize local government budgets and any proposed tax rate increases<\/p>\n

Supporting small businesses by speeding up tax returns when companies overpay<\/p>\n

In the news: <\/p>\n

Endorsements: <\/p>\n

Woody Hunt, an El Paso real estate developer and philanthropist<\/p>\n

Ross Perot Jr., real estate developer and businessman from Dallas<\/p>\n

Kelcy Warren, oil tycoon<\/p>\n

How to contact or learn more:<\/p>\n

(512) 271-4782<\/p>\n

info@christicraddick.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Another candidate, Michael Berlanga<\/a>, filed to run in the primary. <\/p>\n

\"\"Campaign photo<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcb0 Campaign finance:<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcb0 Major donors this cycle:<\/p>\n

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC, the political arm of a trial lawyers group \u2014 $5,000 <\/p>\n

R. Stephen McNally, Austin lawyer \u2014 $10,000<\/p>\n

Experience: <\/p>\n

Served in the Texas Senate, representing Travis County, since 2020<\/p>\n

Before serving in the Legislature\u2019s upper chamber, she was Travis County Judge for five years<\/p>\n

Former prosecutor.<\/p>\n

Political ideology: <\/p>\n

Eckhardt has consistently ranked among the most liberal Democratic members in the Texas Senate based on her voting record. Perhaps as frequently, she\u2019s been at odds with the chamber\u2019s presiding officer, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick,<\/a> who she recently accused of treating his role \u201cas his church, as his pulpit.\u201d Last summer she clashed with Patrick once again, calling him a bully when Patrick used a rare procedural move to kill a planned filibuster from Democrats who opposed a congressional redistricting map gerrymandered to max GOP representation in the U.S. House.<\/p>\n

Policy stances:<\/p>\n

Wants the office to focus on ensuring Texans are safe, not on polarizing social issues<\/p>\n

Vows to root out government corruption <\/p>\n

Aims to restore trust in government by running an independent office with integrity <\/p>\n

In the news: <\/p>\n

Endorsements: <\/p>\n

Texas AFL-CIO<\/p>\n

The Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus<\/p>\n

How to contact or learn more:
campaign@saraheckhardt.com<\/a>
Sarah Eckhardt Campaign
P.O. Box 301586
Austin, TX 78703
Two other candidates also filed to run in the Democratic primary: Michael Lange<\/a> and Savant Moore<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy, and give…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2137,56510,288,287,11538,27,2794,29,28,6748],"class_list":{"0":"post-144005","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-2026-elections","9":"tag-2026-primary-explainer","10":"tag-elections","11":"tag-politics","12":"tag-state-agencies","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-texas-comptroller-of-public-accounts","15":"tag-texas-headlines","16":"tag-texas-news","17":"tag-well-b-homepage"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}