In three months, voters will decide who wins in the Texas primary elections, when most offices are decided in the state. Texas has a competitive race for the state’s accountant and chief financial officer, the Comptroller. It’s a three-way race on the Republican side with a lot of money at st ake. Governor Abbott came to Fort Worth to support the man he backed for the job and appointed as acting Comptroller earlier this year, Kelly Hancock. Hancock is running against Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick and former Texas State Senator Don Huffines. Tuesday, the acting Comptroller and the Governor spoke at Joe T. Garcia’s in Fort Worth, Hancock’s former Senate district. Governor Abbott earlier appointed former Texas State Senator Hancock as acting Comptroller when the incumbent Glen Hegar took a job as the Chancellor of the Texas AM University System. The position is important to Abbott because it will oversee the new school choice voucher program, which allocates $1 billion in public money to help families attend private schools. It was Abbott’s top priority this year in the legislature. “We’ve already established the rules. It’s something I’ve been passionate about for 30 years. I spent 13 years on a local school board, and I started a business from scratch, which is essentially what we’re doing here,” said Hancock. “I think this is the most consequential statewide election, especially in the primary of this coming year. We’ve got to have somebody who comes with batteries included, ready to go on day one,” said Gov. Abbott. The position is also key to finding waste, fraud, and abuse in state government. Former State Senator Don Huffines has the endorsement of Senator Ted Cruz and told us he’d do a better job investigating fellow state officials and their programs as an outsider. “We’re spending over $500 million a day, every day, in the state of Texas. I say, who’s looking after that money? It’s up to the Comptroller. The Comptroller is the chief financial officer of the state. I’m focused on the spending,” said Huffines. In a joint interview, NBC 5 asked the governor about that concept and how the man he endorsed will turn around and scrutinize his own programs. “Listen, we all know that we can find ways in which we can trim government, reduce spending, and it ties into one of my other goals. I want to reduce the spending on state government so I can take that money and plow it into one of my other missions, and that is to reduce property taxes,” said Gov. Abbott. Huffines is a longtime North Texas businessman and member of a well-known family of car dealers. Earlier, this team touted polls showing him with the edge, including one in Hancock’s old Texas Senate District 9. “And I’m ahead because, simply, they know they can trust me. They know that I’m not for sale. When I was in the Texas Senate, I was the only elected officeholder in the history of the state of Texas that never took any money from the taxpayers, from the government: no pay, no pension, no per diem, no healthcare, no nothing. I’m going to do the same as Comptroller,” said Huffines. Hancock, in response, believes that with the Governor’s support, he will win over Republican voters. “Yes, we’re confident. We’re ready. We’re looking forward to November, and I think the governor pointed that out in his endorsement. We’ve always been successful in this district,” said Hancock. The Christi Craddick campaign did not return our request for an interview. Still, she is supported by several of the wealthiest real estate and oil and gas businessmen in the state, including Ross Perot Jr, Woody Hunt, and Javaid Anwar. Suppose no candidate gets more than 50% in this March primary. In that case, the top two will go on to a May runoff election, followed by the general election in November against the Democratic candidate. ...read more read less