{"id":359584,"date":"2026-07-03T05:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T05:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/359584\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T05:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T05:00:09","slug":"greg-abbott-names-don-huffines-as-texas-comptroller-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/359584\/","title":{"rendered":"Greg Abbott names Don Huffines as Texas comptroller"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday appointed Don Huffines to lead the comptroller\u2019s office, elevating a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/politics\/texas\/article\/greg-abbott-comptroller-primary-21322732.php\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">one-time political nemesis<\/a> to the post Huffines is seeking in the November election.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, the governor said Huffines is the right man for the job, which includes overseeing the state\u2019s finances and the rollout of the state\u2019s new private school voucher program, a key policy priority for Abbott. The appointment is effective Aug. 1.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon Huffines brings the right mix of business experience and conservative principles to this vital office,\u201d Abbott said in a statement announcing the appointment. \u201cHe is a fifth-generation Texan, successful businessman, and proven conservative leader who puts taxpayers first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is a remarkable turnaround for the two former political foes. Huffines, a former state senator from Dallas,\u00a0 has long been a critic of Abbott\u2019s and ran against him in the 2022 governor\u2019s race, labeling Abbott a \u201cweak leader\u201d and a \u201ccoward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m honored by the trust Governor Abbott has placed in me,\u201d Huffines said in a statement. \u201cMy commitment is simple: run government lean, protect every tax dollar, and keep Texas the best place to live, raise a family, and run a business.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Huffines, a conservative firebrand who ran on his ties to the MAGA movement, has said he would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/politics\/texas\/article\/don-huffines-says-wouldn-t-change-voucher-program-21955089.php\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">not change the agency\u2019s approach<\/a> to the voucher program. He will remain on the ballot in November, when he faces state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, an Austin Democrat, who has opposed vouchers and is promising tougher oversight of the program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon Huffines is the king of school vouchers who can\u2019t win on his own, so here goes Abbott side-stepping voters to appoint him right before an election,\u201d Eckhardt\u2019s campaign said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday appointed Don Huffines to lead the comptroller\u2019s office, elevating a one-time political nemesis&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-359584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359584","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=359584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}