The Comptroller collects the state's taxes and then certifies how much the Legislature is allowed to spend. If the Comptroller says the money isn't there, the budget does not pass. The referee and the cashier in one office.
The Democratic candidate
Sarah Eckhardt
DemocratAbout Sarah
On March 6, 2020, Eckhardt was the county judge who canceled South by Southwest — one of the first officials in America to shut something down for COVID — and then stayed on after resigning to run the emergency response. She's running for the office that certifies whether Texas can pay its bills.
She's the daughter of Bob Eckhardt, a Houston congressman, and Nadine Eckhardt, who worked for LBJ and Molly Ivins; she grew up around people who took government seriously. She was a prosecutor, then Travis County commissioner, then in 2015 the first woman elected Travis County Judge, running a county of 1.3 million; since 2020 she's been a state senator, where she passed a law that lets people who dropped out of college years ago come back without their old grades or debts blocking them. Her pitch for Comptroller: audit the voucher program, stop the no-bid contracts. Her opponent, Don Huffines, wants to "gut state government from the inside."
Also on the ballot
Every candidate who filed for this office appears here. Tap a name to read more.
Don HuffinesAbout Don
He lost his Senate seat to the Dragon Ball Z composer. Then he lost a governor's race. Now he's back — promising to gut state government from the inside.
Huffines built one of Dallas's largest residential real estate empires before entering politics and has pledged not to take a government salary if elected. He's modeled his campaign on Elon Musk's federal efficiency push, calling it "DOGE Texas." The senator who defeated him in 2018, Nathan Johnson, is running for AG in the same election.
V. Alonzo Echavarria-GarzaAbout V.
A Hearne, Texas city manager running for comptroller after being the Libertarian nominee for the same office in 2022.
Echavarria-Garza serves as city manager of Hearne, Texas. He was the Libertarian nominee for Texas Comptroller in 2022, when incumbent Glenn Hegar won re-election. He's running again in 2026 against Republican Don Huffines, Democrat Sarah Eckhardt, and Green nominee Shehla Faizi.
Shehla FaiziAbout Shehla
Running for comptroller to make the case that Texans' tax dollars should stop funding overseas wars and enriching billionaires.
Faizi is the Green Party nominee for Texas Comptroller. Her campaign says she wants to be a comptroller who answers to voters rather than party leaders or big donors, centering her run on redirecting state tax spending away from war funding and corporate benefit.
Where to vote
Hays County uses vote centers — any registered Hays County voter can vote at any open location in the county. Locations and hours by city: