Kelly Hancock
Republican state Sen. Kelly Hancock launched his campaign for state comptroller Thursday shortly after taking a senior position at the comptroller’s office.
His appointment as chief clerk to Comptroller Glenn Hegar paves the way for Hanock, a North Richland Hill Republican, to become interim comptroller after Hegar leaves his office in June. And it gives Hancock an edge in a growing Republican primary race next year.
“Kelly is a great fit to serve as the chief financial officer of Texas,” Hegar said in a statement, who is stepping down to become chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. “As a long-serving member of the Texas Legislature, he helped shape sound financial policy and authored the state’s conservative spending cap legislation”
Hegar added that Hancock is honest, trustworthy, and an “all-around good guy.”
Hancock, in a statement, cited his conservative bona fides on border security, noting he was one of the first Republican senators to call for ending in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants, which the state did earlier this month.
“For over a decade, I’ve fought for Texas taxpayers in the Legislature, cutting red tape, passing conservative budget reforms, and holding government accountable,” Hancock said in his campaign announcement. “As Comptroller, I’ll make sure your tax dollars are spent wisely, transparently, and responsibly.”
A quirk in state law prohibited Gov. Greg Abbott from directly appointing Hancock comptroller. Senators cannot be appointed to another position that requires Senate confirmation.
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Entering the primary season as the interim will almost certainly give Hancock a leg up in a race that’s already getting crowded. Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick and former state Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, are already in the race, and Huffines has been raking in endorsements — including one from U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
Abbott was quick to endorse Hancock, in the process throwing an elbow at Huffines, who as a state senator lost his reelection bid to Democrat Nathan Johnson in 2018.
“I endorse Kelly Hancock because I want a candidate who will actually win the election, not someone who has already lost an election to a Democrat,” Abbott said in a statement.
See here for the background. In my eyes, anyone who would advocate for a harmful and destructive policy as the repeal of the state’s DREAM Act is automatically disqualified from the label of “all-around good guy”, but that’s the modern Republican Party for you. Hancock was one of two Senators to vote to convict Ken Paxton in the impeachment trial, so he does have that much going for him. He’s probably capable of basic addition and subtraction, and he’s not completely insane, so as far as that goes I’d take him over Don Huffines. But that’s like saying I’d take leprosy over being eaten by a school of piranha.
The Fort Worth Report adds an important detail.
Hancock, who represents Fort Worth, resigned from the Senate before he was sworn in as the chief clerk of the Texas Comptroller’s office on June 19. He will assume the role of acting comptroller July 1 when Glenn Hegar, a Republican elected to the statewide position in 2014, assumes his new role as chancellor of the Texas A&M University System.
“Kelly is a great fit to serve as the chief financial officer of Texas,” Hegar said in a statement.
Hancock’s ascension to comptroller came with a hitch: A 2002 attorney general’s opinion required Hancock resign from the Senate and briefly take a job in the agency before becoming interim comptroller after Hegar’s exit.
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Hancock has been in the Senate since 2013 after serving as House member from 2006 to 2012.
He represents Senate District 9, which is fully enclosed within Tarrant County and encompasses more than 46% of the county’s population in the northern and western part of the county.
The district includes a large part of Fort Worth and eastern suburbs reaching to Hurst and Bedford.
His departure from the Senate could likely touch off a scramble of candidates to replace him, though only one has been prominently mentioned as a potential candidate: Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth.
“I am prayerfully considering a run for Senate upon a vacancy in SD9,” Schatzline told online news outlet The Texan.
If Schatzline runs for Hancock’s seat, it will create an opening for the Fort Worth Republican’s House seat in 2026.
I assumed Hancock had to resign for this, because you can’t hold two offices simultaneously. That should mean a special election in SD09 this November, possibly sooner if Abbott does decide to call a special session for re-redistricting. While SD09 was basically a 60-40 district in 2024, given the current environment it could make for an interesting race, certainly one that Dems should contest as fiercely as possible. Put a pin in that for later. Hancock’s term is up in 2026 anyway, so whatever else happens there will be an open Senate seat for someone to run for next year as well.