AUSTIN, Texas — Former Texas state Sen. Don Huffines is running for governor, and from the broadsides he launched against two-term Gov. Greg Abbott’s stewardship on Monday, it’s clear the Dallas businessman will try to attack the incumbent Republican from the right.
Huffines is a real-estate developer who with his twin brother, Phillip, has supported staunchly conservative Texas GOP causes, at times showing a libertarian bent. He is the first Republican to announce he’ll challenge Abbott next year.
“The Austin swamp may not be as wide as Washington, but it’s just as deep,” Huffines said in a tweeted video.
In a written statement, he added, “For too long, Texas has been let down by politicians who offer nothing but excuses and lies. Our border is still wide open. Property taxes keep going up. And our election laws continue to be ignored. Plain and simple, our politicians aren’t getting things done, and Texans have rightfully run out of patience.”
Asked if he has a comment on Huffines’ entry in the race, Abbott political strategist Dave Carney texted, “I have none. Who?”
Carney referred a reporter to Abbott spokesman Mark Miner.
“Doubt anyone has time with the end of session upon them all,” Carney said.
Huffines, who in 2018 lost his Senate seat to Dallas Democrat Nathan Johnson, has criticized Abbott for closing down businesses in order to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. A year ago, Huffines told The Dallas Morning News he was not a 2022 candidate for governor, but only after taking a swipe at Abbott.
“He showed extremely poor leadership in the whole process,” Huffines said then, referring to the governor’s handling of closing and reopening businesses during the pandemic.
Last October, Huffines spoke at a “Free Texas” rally, held outside the Governor’s Mansion by opponents of Abbott’s coronavirus restrictions.
Texas Republican Party Chairman Allen West has also been mentioned as a primary opponent for Abbott, though the former Florida congressman is also said to be considering other options, including a campaign for attorney general against incumbent Republican Ken Paxton. In Texas, one doesn’t have to be a lawyer to serve as attorney general.
Republican consultant Bill Miller said Huffines would be a heavy underdog in a primary clash with Abbott.
“He’s not a threat to Abbott,” Miller said. “He’s a nuisance, but not a threat. All he does is allow the Abbott machinery to get in gear.”
Johnson, the Dallas Democrat who beat Huffines for the state Senate, agreed that Huffines didn’t have the heft to become governor.
“His dissatisfaction with leadership has been evident for a long time,” Johnson said. “He has an iconoclastic, simplistic view of the world that stands apart from the realities of politics, so it’s not surprising that he doesn’t understand why he’s wrong for Texas.”
But Johnson said Huffines posed a political problem for Abbott, who critics warn could veer too far to the right in order to thwart Huffines and other potential primary challengers.
“This session has largely been about Republican primary messaging and in a sense Huffines is calling Abbott’s bluff,” Johnson said. “Is all this nonsense we’re doing really something you want to do, instead of the productive work we’re supposed to be doing? Is that what you’re really about, because Huffines really is about it?”
Huffines and West are part of a group of Republican critics of Abbott that includes Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, former Dallas hair salon operator and unsuccessful state Senate hopeful Shelley Luther and former GOP state Reps. Jonathan Stickland of Bedford and Matt Rinaldi of Irving.
On Monday, Huffines boasted he never drew his $7,200-a-year state salary as a legislator and supported causes such as school vouchers, gun rights and opposition to abortion rights.
“I am ready to take on the federal government and the entrenched elites of the Austin swamp,” he said. “We will finally finish the wall and secure our border – and we’re not going to ask for permission to do it. We will put Texas on a path to eliminating property taxes. And we will enforce our sacred voting laws, so that the voices of lawful voters are preserved and not diluted through corrupt election procedures.”
Huffines did not explicitly say he’d run as a Republican. Not until the final paragraph of a 340-word news release did Huffines even mention the word “Republican.”
“I am running for governor because I love Texas and am determined to solve the critical problems that have been neglected for too long,” Huffines said. “Texas deserves actual Republican leadership that will act urgently and decisively – no more excuses or lies. Our state is a lighthouse of freedom for our nation and the world. We will unapologetically defend that freedom.”
Campaign spokeswoman Kristin Tate confirmed Huffines will run in the Republican primary.
Asked about the release’s description of him as a “self-made businessman” – Huffines is from a family that for three generations has owned and run Dallas-area auto dealerships – Tate replied:
“The only job Huffines has ever held in the auto industry was greasing cars for 2 bucks an hour as a kid in the early 1970s. He built his own real estate business from the ground up.”
Huffines has strong ties to former presidential candidate Ron Paul, who has been both a GOP and Libertarian standard bearer, and his son, Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul.
In his political debut in 2014, Huffines got to the right of a longtime Republican senator, John Carona, ousting him in that year’s GOP primary.
In his one four-year term in the Senate, Huffines pushed through legislation that allowed Dallas County voters to choose to abolish Dallas County Schools, a school bus agency riddled with corruption, in 2017.
The release called it “the largest government corruption scandal in Texas history,” and noted, “Six people were imprisoned after Huffines’ efforts uncovered their roles in the scheme.”
Huffines also carried legislation to outlaw red-light cameras that irritated many motorists but supplied Texas cities with a flow of fines. The Legislature eventually banned the cameras, though that happened after Huffines had lost his Senate seat.
