(The Center Square) – Texas Republicans are expressing alarm about a GOP state comptroller candidate, Don Huffines, secretly purchasing a New Mexico ranch owned by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. They and many others are calling for transparency and an investigation.
Huffines’ LLC purchased the ranch in 2023 with the owners’ names and purchase amount kept sealed. It wasn’t until after the LLC changed the name of a road and challenged property taxes in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, that through a public records request the ownership and property value were made public. Huffines’ wife is listed as a trustee and his son as LLC manager, The Center Square reported. Huffines’ attorney said the proceeds of the purchase went to victims; Epstein’s estate attorney in 2023 said proceeds went to cover administrative costs and creditors.
Huffines, a multimillionaire and former state senator, is running a campaign on government accountability and transparency. Critics argue the campaign pledge is the opposite of his actions with the ranch purchase. He could have invited state and federal investigators onto the property to do a forensic analysis, raised the buildings where sex trafficking, rape and other crimes of violence committed against underage girls occurred, donated directly to the victims’ fund, built a memorial on the property and set an example for other investors purchasing Epstein estate property, they say.
Among the more than three million Epstein Files released, more than 4,200 mention the Zorro Ranch purchased by Huffines. FBI witness statements include a Native American who says Epstein paid her mother to bring her and other children to the ranch for many years, where they say they were forced into sexual violence with high-profile men.
A woman from Cape Town, South Africa, told Sky News Epstein repeatedly raped her. The New Mexico land commissioner first called for an investigation in 2019. Investigations are being launched to find possible remains buried on neighboring state land.
"It shows incredibly bad judgment to be associated with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in any form or fashion,” Wayne Hamilton, former executive director of the Republican Party of Texas, told The Center Square. “If you are buying a piece of land, the first thing that should have been done is total transparency. If the property is suspected of criminal activity, why not be transparent with state officials in New Mexico? Huffines wants to run the finances of Texas, yet he won’t be transparent with his own dealings with former Epstein assets.”
Tarrant County precinct chair Sheena Rodriguez, who’s been advocating for trafficked children for years, told The Center Square, “It’s a glaring indictment that Huffines would purchase property where girls were raped and tortured. If you were willing to do that for a good investment what else are you willing to do? We are dealing with people who live in an elitist world who don’t have to worry about the price of groceries going up. They have no moral qualms about investing in property where atrocities occurred.
“The comptroller manages state money for the eighth-largest economy in the world. As a taxpayer, how can I trust someone to manage our money when he’s making decisions like this with his personal business? He’s appearing to show that his so-called Christian values don’t care about sexual violence committed against innocent girls.”
A lifelong conservative Republican and leader in Marion County, Hunter Bonner told The Center Square, “I am at a loss as to why any person, who considers themselves a Christian, would want to spend one dime on anything that was previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein, other than to turn it over to law enforcement for a complete forensic investigation. That property was owned by a disgusting creature involved in the sex trafficking and abuse of children.”
Judy Adams, a Denton County Republican Party precinct chair, told The Center Square that when Huffines was a state senator, he helped “flip his district blue.” Secretively purchasing the Epstein ranch “is deeply troubling. Buying the property anonymously through a newly created LLC … raises serious ethical questions about his intentions and transparency” and “about his dedication to the constituents he claims to serve, and none of this aligns with true conservative principles.”
Mary Ann Jackson, a Harris County Republican Party precinct chair, said the revelations are “disgusting and disheartening” after she’s been “working hard to help the Texas Republican Party. Christian conservatives are tired of all the corruption and deceit. How could a candidate running for Texas Comptroller send out flyers about how he is going to ‘expose government corruption’ cover up his own personal [purchase of Epstein property]? Why not stay away from any connection to Epstein who is the epitome of a reprobate mind? If you couldn’t pass on such a financial deal, why wouldn’t you invite law enforcement to investigate the sex trafficking allegations around that ranch?”
Lynn Davenport, a former Dallas County GOP precinct chair and delegate to the Republican Party state convention, has criticized Huffines, her former state senator, for investing in a biotech company that uses cells from baby hearts under 30 days old while claiming to be pro-life. She’s taking issue with Huffines “refusing to speak about his intentions for the property in the wake of questions surrounding potential burials of victims allegedly on the property under Epstein’s ownership. If he purchased the property for altruistic reasons to donate to the victims, why all the secrecy? He is running for Texas comptroller on a platform of transparency. I’m not buying it.”
Huffines ia running against three other candidates in the March 3 Republican primary.
