The Texas Comptroller Race Is Quietly a Vote on the $1 Billion School Choice Program
The next comptroller will run Texas Education Freedom Accounts. Don Huffines wants every family on the wait list funded. Sarah Eckhardt wants audits first.
The comptroller rarely gets top billing on the ballot. In the latest UT/Texas Politics Project poll, 39 percent of likely voters had no opinion of Don Huffines, the man now holding the job. But the person who wins that office on Nov. 3 will decide how a new $1 billion school choice program grows, how closely it is watched and how much of the state budget it claims in the years ahead.
Early voting starts Monday, and this down-ballot race deserves more attention than it is getting.
What the comptroller does
The comptroller is Texas’ chief financial officer. According to Community Impact, the office oversees government spending, projects the state’s two-year budget for lawmakers, reports on the economy and manages the state treasury and unclaimed property programs. It also administers the $1 billion education savings account program, Texas Education Freedom Accounts, which launched ahead of the 2026-27 school year.
The Texas Tribune notes that the comptroller’s revenue estimate shapes how much lawmakers believe they can spend, which in recent years has meant money for property tax cuts, teacher pay and water projects.
Four candidates are on the ballot: Republican Don Huffines, Democrat Sarah Eckhardt, Libertarian V. Alonzo Echavarria-Garza and Green Party candidate Shehla Faizi. The winner begins a four-year term in January.
How Huffines got here
The seat opened when Glenn Hegar left to become chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. Former state Sen. Kelly Hancock served as acting comptroller and lost the March Republican primary to Huffines. Gov. Greg Abbott then appointed Huffines comptroller on July 2, and he took over the office Aug. 1, Community Impact reported.
Huffines has not been quiet in the job. He has ordered comptroller contractors and grantees to certify they run no discriminatory DEI programs and barred his grants from paying for Flock cameras. The Tribune describes him as a MAGA Republican with libertarian and Christian roots who has vowed not to take a state salary if elected.
Two very different plans for school choice
In a candidate questionnaire, Huffines told Community Impact the program has worked because parents know their own children best.
"The Texas Education Freedom Account Program has succeeded because parents know what’s best for their children. We’re giving families the freedom and tools to pursue their own vision for their children’s education. My goal is to make this program available to every family and student who wishes to participate."
According to the San Antonio Express-News, Huffines has asked the Legislature to expand the program’s budget and fund every child on the wait list, a cost that could reach $4.4 billion by the 2028-29 legislative session. In an August news release he said, "Giving parents control of the funding helps every child access the education that is right for them."
Eckhardt, an Austin state senator and former Travis County judge, criticized the program when the Senate debated it last year and says she would follow the law but scrutinize it hard. "I would follow the law, but I would also follow the money vigorously," she told the Express-News. She said she would look at which schools and providers draw the most money, whether private schools raise tuition or cut scholarships, and whether lawmakers should hold off on expansion until there is more data.
"If everyone who’s eligible gets it, we will be funding both a universal public system and a private school entitlement for some segment of Texans," Eckhardt said. "That would be extremely expensive, and it would seriously curtail our ability to fund any other state services."
Faizi, the Green candidate, told Community Impact she wants to end vouchers altogether. Echavarria-Garza did not respond to the questionnaire.
What the numbers show so far
The Express-News reported that the program has allowed more than 100,000 Texas families to spend public money on their children’s private education. About 73 percent of this year’s recipients come from households earning up to $66,000 for a family of four or have disabilities, according to comptroller data. Seven in 10 awardees previously attended private school.
Supporters see those figures as proof the program is reaching working families and children with special needs. Critics see a subsidy for families who were already paying tuition. Both sides can agree the next comptroller will shape which story the data tells.
The race
The latest UT/Texas Politics Project poll found Huffines at 47 percent and Eckhardt at 46 percent among likely voters, inside the margin of error. The Express-News noted that a September Texas Southern University poll had Huffines up 8 points.
Parents are the first teachers God gave a child, and a program that puts them back in charge of their children’s education is worth defending. So is honest bookkeeping. Whoever wins should give Texans both. Early voting runs through Oct. 30. See what else is on your ballot before you go.
