Don Huffines

Donald Blaine Huffines (born April 26, 1958) is a former Republican member of the Texas Senate, where he represented District 16 from 2015 to 2019.

Donald Huffines
Member of the Texas Senate from the 16th district
In office January 13, 2015 – January 2019
Preceded by	John Carona
Succeeded by	Nathan M. Johnson
Personal details
Born	(1958-04-26) April 26, 1958 Greenville, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Mary Catherine
Children	5
Residence	Dallas, Texas
Alma mater	University of Texas at Austin

Background

Huffines is a fifth generation Texan, born in Dallas in Dallas County. He has two older brothers, James and Ray, and an identical twin brother, Phillip, with whom he operates Huffines Communities, a large real-estate development company in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. 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 and is currently run by Ray Huffines.[1][2][3]

2014 Texas state senate campaign

The district encompasses a part of increasingly Democratic Dallas County, Texas. Huffines unseated Senator John J. Carona by a narrow margin in the Republican primary election held 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, and Huffines hence ran unopposed.[4] Huffines campaigned on the themes of term limits, school choice, funding highway construction, opposing new toll roads, and cutting taxes.[5]

Defeat in 2018

Huffines was unseated in his bid for a second Senate term in the general election held on November 6, 2018. He received 134,412 votes (45.9 percent) to the Democrat Nathan M. Johnson, who polled 158,216 (54.1 percent).[6]

Huffines' twin brother, Phillip, lost a 2018 primary bid for the District 8 seat in the state senate to Angela Paxton, the wife of state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who went on to hold the seat in the general election.

Political activities

In 2017, Huffines introduced legislation to require a 30 percent voter turnout for any bond election in Texas to be successful. Most such elections currently draw fewer than 10 percent of voters to the polls. The San Antonio Express-News claimed that were Huffines' bill to become law, the result would be "effectively putting most taxing entities out of the bond business. The consequences could be devastating for cash-strapped school districts in need of new facilities."[7] Huffines supported his twin brother's Republican primary bid for the District 8 state senate seat in the 2018 election cycle.[8]

Election history

2014

Texas Republican Primary election, 2014: Senate District 16[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Donald Huffines	25,141	50.63
	Republican	John Carona (Incumbent)	24,509	49.36
Turnout			49,650

Texas Republican General election, 2014: Senate District 16

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Donald Huffines (Unopposed)		100

References

1. "About - Don Huffines for Texas Senate". Don Huffines for Texas Senate.
2. "About - Huffines Communities". huffinescommunities.com.
3. "Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Hyundai, Jeep, Kia, RAM, Subaru Lewisville - About Us". huffines.net.
4. "Donald Huffines". ballotpedia.org.
5. Shelley Kofler. "Don Huffines, Likely Headed To Texas Senate, Supports Term Limits, School Choice, Creationism". keranews.org.
6. "Election Returns". Texas Secretary of State. November 6, 2018. Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
7. "Bill would wreck bond elections" (opinion), San Antonio Express-News,, February 26, 2017, p. F2.
8. "Huffines Brothers Set to Become First Twins in the Texas Senate". D Magazine. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
9. "2014 Republican Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-03-04.