Greg Abbott Blamed by His Own Side: Comptroller Don Huffines Says GOP Leadership Lost Texas and It May Be 'Almost Impossible to Win This State Back'
The post-election blame inside Texas Republican ranks now has a Republican officeholder's name on it. Comptroller Don Huffines — appointed by Abbott in July, and a loser himself on Tuesday — blamed Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and 'all of our leadership' in an election-night post.
AUSTIN — The sharpest Republican criticism of Texas's election-night collapse is coming from inside the party's own statewide ticket. Texas Comptroller Don Huffines, in a social-media post from election night reported by USA TODAY, pointed directly at the top of his party: "It's gonna almost be impossible to win this state back. I blame this on Greg Abbott. I blame this on Dan Patrick. I blame it on all of our leadership." Huffines, a former state senator whom Abbott appointed comptroller in July, lost his own race on Tuesday to Democratic state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, as Democrats swept the statewide ballot.
Huffines's argument, to cheers from his crowd, was about promises and tenure: he questioned Abbott's and Patrick's decisions to run for a fourth term, said Republicans had failed to deliver on their promises and left themselves little to campaign on, and said, "People are tired of Republicans being in office." Of the leadership he served alongside, he said: "They never cared about you — I served with them. They laugh and make fun of you and the grassroots. They never cared about our party platform." None of the remarks is a Democrat's talking point; that is what makes the file significant for Dallas–Fort Worth readers deciding what the Republican Party in Texas argues about next.
Huffines is the loudest, not the only, Republican voice in the fallout. President Donald Trump weighed in on Abbott's loss to Gina Hinojosa on social media, calling the governor a RINO — a Republican in name only — a reaction this station covered on Wednesday. Sen. Ted Cruz, on his Nov. 4 podcast, called the losses in Texas and around the nation a "Watergate-level repudiation," pointed to tariffs and the Iran war, and promised, "we will bring Texas back." The searches tell the same story as the quotes: 'greg abbott' is among Friday's heaviest search topics in the trending lists read by this desk, as Texans look for an explanation of Tuesday. The explanation contest inside the party is now the story.
