AUSTIN — Sitting in an Austin high-rise with a spectacular view of the Texas Capitol just behind him, former state Sen. Kelly Hancock left no doubt that his two announced opponents in the Texas comptroller’s race will have a fight on their hands.
“A lot of elected officials don’t like campaigning,” he told the Fort Worth Report during an interview at his downtown campaign headquarters. “I love campaigning. I won’t see all 31 million Texans but I’ll see a lot of them. We’ll go all over the state.”
In a top-level job swap June 19, Hancock was positioned to replace departing state Comptroller Glenn Hegar as acting comptroller after submitting his Senate resignation to Gov. Greg Abbott two days earlier. Now, the 61-year-old Tarrant County Republican is plunging into a 2026 election fight against two previously announced candidates — Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick and former state Sen. Don Huffines.
Hancock announced his candidacy the same day Hegar swore him in as chief clerk in the comptroller’s office. He will become acting comptroller July 1 when Hegar, himself a former senator, leaves to become chancellor of Texas A&M University System.
Hancock quickly secured Abbott’s blessings in the race when the governor issued an endorsement touting the former senator as the best qualified candidate whose skills will increase further during his time in the comptroller’s office.
“I like starting out with the governor’s endorsement. I don’t mind running as the incumbent,” Hancock said. “Let’s see, the campaign’s been going on less than 24 hours: Pretty good start.”
In endorsing Hancock, Abbott also took a dig at Huffines, a former state senator who lost his reelection bid to current Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, and who challenged the governor for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2022.
“I want a candidate who will actually win the election, not someone who has already lost an election to a Democrat,” Abbott said.
In an interview with a Texas television station, Huffines criticized the process to tap Hancock as comptroller.
“It’s a gross manipulation of the process by the establishment Republicans, the political elite, because they’re scared of me, and they know that I’m going to win,” Huffines said.
Craddick welcomed competition in the race.
“I’ll put my record up against anybody else in Texas,” she told El Paso-based KTSM News.
Hancock offered insights into Abbott’s decision-making process for filling the vacancy that was created when Texas A&M officials selected Hegar to replace Chancellor John Sharp, who is departing his post at the end of June after serving 10 years.
“It evolved over a year ago when John Sharp announced he was going to step down,” he said.
The governor, he said, approached him and “a lot of other people inside the Capitol, outside the Capitol” in sizing up potential candidates to replace Hegar as the state’s top fiscal officer.
“My guess was it was a pretty long list,” Hancock said.
Abbott and Hancock have been friends as well as political allies, with the North Richland Hills senator always making a point to reach out to the governor’s office whenever he came to Austin.
“It kind of started like that,” he said. “And then I think we have similar personalities and a lot in common.”
Hancock said he didn’t know who else was under consideration for the post, but ultimately “he approached me” about succeeding Hegar.
“Obviously, we’re friends. We work well together and (Abbott) asked me if I was interested. And that’s kind of where it started.”
Hancock was in the House from 2007 to 2013 and entered the Senate in 2013, representing Senate District 9, which is fully enclosed within Tarrant County.
In his resignation letter to Abbott, which became effective at midnight June 18, Hancock thanked his District 9 constituents “for placing their trust in me” and said his appointment to the comptroller’s office “will allow me to continue working on behalf of the people of Texas, ensuring sound fiscal stewardship and transparency in our state’s finances.
Hancock said he’s effectively been preparing for the comptroller’s job for decades, from the time he was a former school board member signing off on school budgets through his days on the Senate Finance Committee and Legislative Budget Board.
He said he also “began having conversations” with members of the comptroller’s staff in advance of his official appointment.
His occupation as a businessman has also helped prepare him for the job, he said. Hancock is the sole owner of Advanced Chemical Logistics, a whole distribution business in Richland Hills.
After his swearing in by Hegar, Hancock spent part of his day on the job by hosting a working fajita lunch with about 30 members of the comptroller’s leadership team. By his description, he plans a relatively restrained transition into the top job instead of a wholesale shakeup.
“We’re going to settle in a little bit,” he said. “When I was younger and in management I was more of a hand grenade guy. You know, come in and blow ’em up. But, as I’ve matured, I’ve settled down. If you’re in leadership and you’re moving so fast nobody’s behind you, then you’re not a very good leader.”
Hancock has repeatedly underscored the importance of family in his life. He and his wife, Robin, who stood at Hancock’s side during his swearing in, have been married for 37 years and first met in kindergarten.
During the interview, Hancock proudly showed a photo of four of his six grandchildren.
Kelly Hancock, a former state senator from North Richland Hills, shows off a photo of his family on his iPhone in his campaign office June 20, 2025, in downtown Austin. (Dave Montgomery | Fort Worth Report)
Hancock was at the center of news stories about his health earlier this decade after he was forced to receive a kidney transplant from his son-in-law to cure a life-threatening kidney disease, but he said health is no longer an issue. He said he ran 3 miles on Friday morning before getting ready to go to the office for a series of interviews.
Despite reports of occasional friction between him and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Hancock said he and the Senate’s presiding officer were on the phone for more than 30 minutes days earlier in an amicable conversation about Hancock’s plans. He said Patrick brought up the fact that he never had to ask for Hancock’s vote on a particular issue.
“Policy wise, we agree 99% of the time and he knows that,” Hancock said.
The now former senator acknowledges that he’s been so busy preparing for the new role that he hasn’t fully dealt with the emotional impact of leaving the Senate, the Legislature’s upper chamber where he spent more than a dozen years.
“I recognize I haven’t really spent any time reflecting back,” he said. “It’ll hit me at some point.”
Dave Montgomery is an Austin-based freelance reporter for the Fort Worth Report.
The Fort Worth Report’s Texas legislative coverage is supported by Kelly Hart.
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