Don Huffines

Donald Huffines
Member of the Texas Senate
from the 16th district
Assumed office
January 13, 2015
Preceded by John J. Carona
Personal details
Born 1958 (age 59–60)
Greenville, Hunt County
Texas, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Mary Catherine Huffines
Children 5
Residence Dallas, Texas
Alma mater University of Texas at Austin

Donald Blaine Huffines (born 1958) is a Republican who represents District 16 in the Texas Senate.

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 District 16 campaign

The district encompasses a part of 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]

Political activities

In 2017, Senator 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 claims 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."[6] Huffines supported his twin brother running in the Republican primary for a seat in the State Senate during in the 2018 election cycle.[7]

Election history

2014

Texas Republican Primary election, 2014: Senate District 16[8]
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. ↑ "Bill would wreck bond elections" (opinion), San Antonio Express-News,, February 26, 2017, p. F2.
  7. ↑ "Huffines Brothers Set to Become First Twins in the Texas Senate". D Magazine. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  8. ↑ "2014 Republican Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
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