Don Huffines

Don Huffines is a fifth-generation 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, he and his brothers 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 which has grown into a large network of metroplex dealerships. The dealership is currently run by Don's brother Ray Huffines.

Huffines graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in Finance.

Huffines and his wife Mary Catherine have five children.

Huffines and his twin brother Phillip are the founders of Huffines Communities, a real estate company located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

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 $6.3 million was spent by both candidates in the critical primary race.

In the November 4 general election, Huffines's Libertarian challenger, Mike Dooling, dropped out of the race, leaving Huffines to run unopposed.[3] Huffines campaigned on the themes of term limits, school choice, funding highway construction, opposing new toll roads, and cutting taxes.[4]

During his time in office, Huffines authored many bills addressing Republican priorities. These included legislation on constitutional carry, term limits, and anti-abortion policy. Huffines consistently voted along his party line for conservative legislation political Science fellow Mark Jones named Huffines the fourth most conservative member of the 2017 Texas Senate.[5]

Huffines was unseated in his bid for a second Senate term in the general election held on November 6, 2018. Over Huffines’ first term, the 16th district began to trend heavily towards the Democrats, causing him to only receive 134,412 votes (45.9 percent) to the Democrat Nathan M. Johnson, who polled 158,216 (54.1 percent).[6]

Huffines is running for Governor of Texas in the 2022 Republican primary election against Greg Abbott, who is seeking a third term. Former Texas Republican Party Chair Allen West recently announced his own challenge to Abbott.[7]

Huffines' campaign takes strong conservative stances on issues such as border security, and eliminating property taxes. On social and cultural issues Huffines supports banning gender reassignment surgeries for minors, "abolish" abortion, banning "critical race theory" in public schools, and preserving Confederate monuments.[8]

Since the announcement of his candidacy, Huffines received endorsements from several notable Texas Republicans, among them Texas Republican Party chair Matt Rinaldi, former chair Tom Pauken; former Texas State Representatives Jonathan Stickland, David Simpson, and Nathan Macias; former candidate for Texas Governor Debra Medina; Mayor of Ponder, Matthew Poole; current Texas county chairs Joe Adams and Lou Vail; former County Chair Nathan Criswell; current State Republican Executive Committee member Warren Norred, and others.

In August 2021, Huffines accused Abbott of using tax dollars to "advocate for transgender ideology", referring to two pages on the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services' (DFPS) website containing resources for LGBTQ youths, including a suicide hotline. The pages were removed from the site within hours.[9]

In November 2021, Huffines publicly criticized a children's book-reading event at a public library in Denton, Texas, incorrectly referring to it as "transgender storytime". This lead to the library receiving violent threats and cancelling the event. In response, a mother of a transgender child organized a new event at a different location, which was attended by hundreds.[10][11]