Don Huffines

Donald Blaine Huffines is an American politician and businessman from the state of Texas. Huffines co-owns and operates Huffines Communities, a real estate development company in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. A conservative,[1] Tea Party[2] Republican, Huffines represented District 16 in the Texas Senate from 2015 to 2019. He lost his re-election campaign in 2018.

Don Huffines
Member of the Texas Senate
from the 16th district
In office
January 13, 2015 – January 8, 2019
Preceded byJohn Carona
Succeeded byNathan M. Johnson
Personal details
BornDallas, Texas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMary Myers
Children5
EducationUniversity of Texas, Austin (BBA)

Remaining active in politics, Huffines ran for Governor of Texas in the 2022 Republican primary, challenging incumbent Greg Abbott.[3]

Background

Early life, education, and family

Don Huffines is a fifth-generation[4] Texan born in Dallas on April 26, 1958. He has two older brothers, James and Ray, and an identical twin brother, Phillip. In his childhood, his brothers and he spent time assisting at their grandfather’s car dealership. Don Huffines' grandfather, James Lecil "J.L." Huffines, started the Huffines Motor Company in Denton, Texas, in 1924. The company has grown into a large network of metroplex dealerships run by Don's brother, Ray Huffines.

Huffines graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.B.A in finance.[5]

Huffines and his wife of 35 years, Mary Catherine, have five children and five grandchildren.[6]

Real-estate career

Huffines and his brother Phillip are the founders and co-owners of Huffines Communities, a real-estate company established in 1985 that is located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.[7][8]

Texas Senate
Huffines in 2014

In 2014, Huffines ran for a seat in the Texas State Senate. He challenged the incumbent of Senate District 16, Senator John J. Carona, in the Republican primary. Huffines ran to the right of Carona, claiming Carona was not a true conservative, and ultimately won the primary against him on March 4, 2014. A combined total of $6.3 million was spent by both candidates in the primary race.

In the November 4 general election, Huffines ran unopposed.[9] Huffines campaigned on the themes of teaching creationism in public schools, term limits, school choice, funding highway construction, opposing new toll roads, and cutting taxes.[10]

Tenure

During his time in office, Huffines authored, but did not pass, many bills addressing Republican priorities.[11] These bills included legislation on constitutional carry, term limits, and anti-abortion policy. Huffines consistently voted along his party line on conservative legislation; political science fellow Mark Jones named Huffines the fourth-most conservative member of the 2017 Texas Senate.[12] In 2017, Huffines proposed a bill, which did not pass, that would have required 30% voter turnout for any bond election in Texas to be successful. At the time, most such elections drew fewer than 10% of voters to the polls. The San Antonio Express-News claimed that were Huffines' bill to become law, it would make a successful bond election nearly impossible in Texas.[13]

Huffines is known for advocating the elimination the Dallas County Schools that allegedly mismanaged taxpayer money.[14] Six people were imprisoned after being exposed for their roles in the scheme.

On November 6, 2018, Huffines lost his re-election bid to Democrat Nathan M. Johnson, who was the first Democrat to win Senate District 16 in over three decades. Huffines received 45.9% of the vote.[15] Huffines has never defeated a Democrat in an election.

2022 Gubernatorial Candidacy

Huffines remained politically active after losing his Senate re-election campaign. He was critical of Governor Greg Abbott's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically lockdowns, and called for the reopening of the state.[16]

On May 10, 2021, Huffines announced that he would challenge Abbott in the 2022 Republican primary for governor of Texas.[17] As a candidate, Huffines has warned of an alleged communist invasion of Californians moving to Texas and has advocated to bring prayer back to schools and dared "the Supreme Court to come to Texas to enforce the separation of church and state."[18]

In August 2021, Huffines accused Abbott of using tax dollars to "advocate for transgender ideology". Huffines criticized a webpage run by a state agency overseen by Governor Abbott that encouraged children to "express their identities."[19] This webpage was promptly taken down.

In October 2021, Huffines' campaign also claimed that Critical race theory was in a state agencies' training materials.[20]

On March 1, 2022, Huffines lost the Republican primary, placing third with 12% of the vote against Abbott. Huffines conceded within an hour of the polls closing.[21]

Huffines Liberty Foundation

In June 2022, Huffines launched the Huffines Liberty Foundation. The mission of the Huffines Liberty Foundation is to advance the cause of liberty in the State of Texas and educate citizens to hold their elected officials accountable.[22]

The Liberty Foundation focuses on securing the Texas border, eliminating school property taxes, and furthering education freedom through comprehensive research papers.[23][24][25]

The Huffines Liberty Foundation released its first publication in October 2022.[26]

Election history

2022
2022 Texas gubernatorial Republican primary results[27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Greg Abbott (incumbent) 1,299,059 66.4%
Republican Allen West 239,557 12.2%
Republican Don Huffines 234,138 11.9%
Republican Chad Prather 74,173 3.8%
Republican Ricky Lynn Perry 61,424 3.1%
Republican Kandy Kaye Horn 23,605 1.2%
Republican Paul Belew 11,387 0.5%
Republican Danny Harrison 10,829 0.5%

2018
Texas general election, 2018: Senate District 16[28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nathan Johnson 159,228 54.13
Republican Don Huffines (incumbent) 134,933 45.87

2014
Texas Republican primary election, 2014: Senate District 16[29]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Don Huffines 25,141 50.64
Republican John Carona (incumbent) 24,509 49.36
Texas Republican general election, 2014: Senate District 16
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Don Huffines (unopposed) 106,546 100

References
  1. KERA, Elizabeth Myong (May 11, 2021). "Who Is Don Huffines? Former State Senator Challenges Gov. Greg Abbott". Houston Public Media. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  2. "Huffines victory shows the fight for the soul of the Texas GOP is over, and the tea party won". Dallas News. August 17, 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  3. "Texas Primary Election Results". The New York Times. March 2022.
  4. "About".
  5. "About".
  6. "About".
  7. Hethcock, Bill (October 4, 2019). "Building on Inspiration: Q&A with Don Huffines, co-owner of Huffines Communities". BizJournals.com.
  8. "About".
  9. "Donald Huffines". ballotpedia.org.
  10. Shelley Kofler (March 19, 2014). "Don Huffines, Likely Headed To Texas Senate, Supports Term Limits, School Choice, Creationism". keranews.org.
  11. Rocha, Polo (July 8, 2015). "Just One Bill Among Three Freshman Senators". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  12. "The 2017 Texas Senate, from Right to Left, by Mark P. Jones". TribTalk. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  13. "Bill would wreck bond elections" (opinion), San Antonio Express-News, February 26, 2017, p. F2.
  14. "Huffines: Shut Down 'Rogue Bureaucracy' Dallas County Schools". March 9, 2017.
  15. "Election Returns". Texas Secretary of State. November 6, 2018. Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  16. Wallace, Jeremy (July 22, 2021). "Sen. Rand Paul wades into Texas governor's race against Abbott". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  17. Svitek, Patrick (May 10, 2021). "Republican former state Sen. Don Huffines launches primary challenge to Gov. Greg Abbott". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  18. Rowen 4, Ben (January 11, 2022). "Greg Abbott's GOP Challengers Debated Without Him on Monday—and Gave Him Hell". Texas Monthly. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  19. Waltens, Brandon (August 31, 2021). "Texas State Agency 'Celebrates' Transgender Youth, Promotes LGBT Organization". Texas Scorecard. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  20. "Republican gubernatorial candidate alleges critical race theory in a Texas employee training". November 4, 2021.
  21. Svitek, Patrick (March 2, 2022). "Greg Abbott, Beto O'Rourke easily win gubernatorial primaries, setting up November race". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  22. https://huffinesliberty.com
  23. "Taking Control of the Texas Border: Operation Clean Sweep".
  24. "A Roadmap to Abolishing School Property Taxes".
  25. https://huffinesliberty.com/education-freedom
  26. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/632a79c75fe9110073301d90/t/635d90533943345e42db1950/1667076182703/TexasPropertyTaxes-1.pdf
  27. "Candidate Information". Texas Secretary of State John B. Scott. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  28. "2014 Republican Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on November 8, 2006. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  29. "2014 Republican Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
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