Challenges await new elections boss
Abbott picks attorney as Texas’ next secretary of state
AUSTIN — Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced a new secretary of state Monday to replace David Whitley, who lost the job over a botched attempt to purge noncitizens from the state’s voter rolls.
Ruth Ruggero Hughs, 47, of Austin will take over as the state’s top election official before voters go to the polls in 2020, a presidential year that is expected to draw a huge turnout after a surge of voters in the 2018 elections fueled substantial gains for Democrats at the congressional and state level.
What’s more, the races will be the first without “straight-ticket” voting, a time-saver that let voters check one box at the top of the ballot to choose a single party’s candidate in every race. Now that Texans must manually register a vote for each candidate, county election officials say keeping lines moving will be a priority.
“I am not sure how we are going to handle it, but I’m excited and looking forward to maybe this new secretary of state taking their media or public money and helping us out,” Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said. “I think that’s something that has to be addressed.”
Hughs, an attorney who since 2018 has chaired the Texas Workforce Commission, becomes secretary of state after months of turmoil. Senate Democrats effectively fired Whitley by blocking his confirmation throughout the legislative session after the office wrongly flagged thousands of U.S. citizens in January for potential removal from the voter rolls. Abbott appointed Whitley, his longtime aide, in December 2018.
In a statement, Abbott called Hughs “a proven leader.”
“She has built strong relation
ships with the business community throughout Texas and has helped lead the way in developing the best workforce in the nation,” he said in a statement. “I am proud to appoint Ruth as secretary of state, and I am confident that her experience at the Texas Workforce Commission will translate into success in this new role.”
Though the state ended the flawed voter purge in April under terms of a settlement with civil
rights groups that sued, Hughs can continue to identify and remove noncitizens from the voter rolls. But first, the office must change its process to ensure that the results are more accurate.
It’s not clear when that may begin. The secretary of state’s office didn’t respond to questions.
The office announced that it had identified over 90,000 voters as potential noncitizens in January by comparing voter information with Texas Department of Public Safety driver license data, some going back over 20 years.
As a result, naturalized citizens were wrongly swept up in the list.
Fierce finger-pointing ensued, with Abbott blaming DPS for providing faulty data. The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform has been investigating the purge since March; Texas officials have declined to release some of the documents the committee seeks.
Hughs didn’t respond to a request for comment. Like Whitley, she will need to be confirmed by the state Senate to keep the job. But Hughs likely won’t face a vote until the next legislative session begins in 2021, after the upcoming elections.
Manny Garcia, executive director
of the Texas Democratic Party, said Hughs would “be wise to respect our democracy and avoid any requests by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to suppress the vote.”
“While we remain hopeful Secretary of State Hughs will protect and expand the vote in Texas, we will be observing the Republican establishment’s actions very closely,” Garcia said in a statement.
Hughs, who worked in the Texas attorney general’s office when Abbott led that office, graduated from Rutgers School of Law-Camden in 1995.
In addition to elections oversight, the secretary of state keeps business records and is a liaison for the governor on Mexican and border affairs.