Texas’ secretary of state resigns
Her decision comes after Republicans in Senate didn’t take up nomination
Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs announced her resignation Friday after Republicans in the Senate declined to confirm her appointment by Gov. Greg Abbott.
While Republicans have not publicly expressed any lack of faith in Hughs, Democrats point to her office’s assertion that Texas had a
“smooth and secure” election in 2020.
“Apparently, that wasn’t what leadership wanted to hear,” said state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, in a tweet on Saturday.
The “smooth and secure” line became a highlight of the Democrats’ fight against a slew of Republican voting restrictions in the ongoing legislative session.
The Republican senators say the voting restrictions are needed to prevent fraud at the polls, despite no evidence of widespread cheating.
In pushing against the legislation, Democrats pointed to testimony from one of Hughs’ top deputies, Keith Ingram, director of elections.
“In spite of all the circumstances, Texas had an election that was smooth and secure,” Ingram told lawmakers in March, referring to the effect of the pandemic. “Texans can be justifiably proud of the hard work and creativity shown by local county elections officials.”
Hughs oversaw the presidential election last year, in which Harris County
officials implemented several alternative voting measures, including 24-hour voting and drivethru polls.
Republicans have vilified the county’s efforts as part of their ongoing effort to discredit the election results and have put forth legislation this session to crack down on what they see as opportunities for fraud at the ballot box. Democrats and voting rights advocates have called the efforts voter suppression.
Chris Hollins, the former Harris County clerk, said it was clear to him that Hughs’ office was under “intense partisan pressure” in 2020. Hollins said the county generally worked well with the secretary of state’s office in the 2020 elections until legal battles began over the county’s voting expansions. That’s when communication between the two offices abruptly ended, he said.
“They were supportive of us until, it seemed like, somebody of power put in a call to the governor’s office and told them not to be supportive of us,” said Hollins, now a vice chair for finance with the Texas Democratic Party.
Across the country, “secretaries of state and election administrators have stood up and said ‘no, this was a free and fair and secure election,’ but that fact flies in the face of this entire lie that they’re trying to build, so folks who stand behind those facts have to go,” Hollins said.
“On the ultimate question of if this was a safe and secure election, they said yes,” he said. “Right now the Republican Party line is no. So if you don’t bend to that, if you don’t bend to this ‘big lie,’ you are ousted.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who runs the Senate, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sen. Dawn Buckingham, chair of the nominations committee that did not take up Hughs’ confirmation, declined to comment.
Hughs is the second Abbott appointed secretary of state in a row to leave after not receiving Senate confirmation.
A lawyer and former commissioner on the Texas Workforce Commission, Hughs was tapped by Abbott shortly after the 2019 legislative session. Her predecessor, David Whitley, resigned after losing confidence from legislators with a botched voter purge in which thousands of legal citizens were targeted.
By contrast, Hughs’ tenure was muted and mostly out of the public eye.
“I am proud of the work that this office has accomplished, and by working collaboratively, we have helped to build a brighter future for all Texans,” she said in a statement.
Her departure, effective at the end of this month, leaves a hole for the Republican governor to fill as he faces re-election to a third term late next year. Under state law, legislators won’t vet Abbott’s next choice until they reconvene again in 2023.