Star-Telegram endorsement: This Republican has a head start as comptroller
Republicans shouldn’t overthink their choice for state comptroller. Gov. Greg Abbott put a smart businessman with ample governing experience in the job when he appointed Kelly Hancock as acting comptroller, and Hancock has earned the job full-time.
Hancock, 62, was a longtime state House and Senate member from North Richland Hills. He had a bona-fide conservative record in the Legislature but showed independence, a difficult task under Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. As chairman of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee in 2021, he led the way on legislation to reform the Electric Reliability Council of Texas after the winter storm that crippled the state’s power grid.
Hancock has a head start on administering the state’s new education-savings account program, also known as private-school vouchers. Republicans should seek someone who is sure to carefully shepherd through this top policy priority, which Democrats and education groups will be scrutinizing for the slightest misstep.
Another capable candidate is Christi Craddick, who is looking to move over from the Railroad Commission. She’s got a wealth of government experience and deep knowledge of the important oil and gas sector. Craddick, 55, is a native of Midland and lives in Austin.
The seeming frontrunner is Don Huffines, whose single term as a state senator was unremarkable at best. He ran for governor in 2022 with a singular message: that he, not Abbott, was the true conservative in the race. Abbott crushed him in the primary.
Now, Huffines, a 67-year-old Dallas commercial real estate investor, is trying the same schtick in this campaign. He promises to “DOGE” the state budget, referring to the disruptive, largely ineffective effort by Elon Musk to root out waste in the federal government.
Huffines gives every sign that he would try to legislate from the comptroller’s office — and do so poorly. He’s been campaigning for years on a promise to eliminate property taxes, skipping over any honest conversation about the hike in sales tax and deep cuts in government spending that would require. He falls back on the old chestnut of “waste, fraud and abuse.” While all governments should be diligent about how tax dollars are used, the reality is that in local government, the only way to make the kind of cuts that Huffines and others imagine would be to have fewer police officers, firefighters and teachers — or pay them a lot less.
Michael Berlanga, 66, is a San Antonio accountant and property tax consultant. That’s good preparation for the office, but he is also pitching unrealistic proposals that can’t be pursued as comptroller, such as consolidating school districts.
Early voting runs Feb. 17-27, with Election Day on March 3. If no candidate receives more than half the vote, the two with the most votes proceed to a May 26 runoff. The winner will face one of three Democrats seeking the office. The term for the comptroller is four years.
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MOREHey, who is behind these endorsements?
Members of the Editorial Board, which serves as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s institutional voice, decide candidates and positions to recommend to voters. The members of the board are: Cynthia M. Allen, columnist; Steve Coffman, editor and president; Bud Kennedy, columnist; and Ryan J. Rusak, opinion editor.
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How does the process work?
The Editorial Board interviews candidates, asking about positions on issues, experience and qualifications, and how they would approach holding the office for which they are running. Board members do additional research on candidates’ backgrounds and the issues at hand. After that, members discuss the candidates and generally aim to arrive at a consensus, though not necessarily unanimity. All members contribute observations and ideas, so the resulting editorials represent the board’s view, not a particular writer.
How do partisanship and ideology factor in?
We’re not tied to one party or the other, and our positions on issues range across the ideological spectrum. We tend to prefer candidates who align with our previously stated positions, but qualifications, temperament and experience are important, too.
This story was originally published February 15, 2026 at 4:34 AM.