Republican Texas gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines recently denounced allowing non-citizens vote in local elections.
In New York City, foreign nationals who have lived in the city for at least 30 days are now allowed to vote in city elections. FOX News reported. This new law applies to around 800,000 NYC residents. In San Francisco, foreign nationals are allowed to participate in school board elections if they have a child in the school system. The measure was introduced in 2016 and set to expire in 2021, but the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in October to make it permanent.
"Importing voters has long been at the top of the Democrat agenda, and now, Democrat politicians are calling for Texas cities to allow illegal immigrants and foreign nationals to vote in our elections," Huffines said. "Unfortunately, liberal courts have limited the AG’s ability to enforce election laws. So, deporting illegal aliens must be one of our top priorities if we want to secure our elections, and when I am governor, that is what I will do."
Immigrants comprise 17% of Texas's population, and an estimated 1.6 million of those immigrants were in the country without authorization as of 2016, according to FOX.
Austin city council member Greg Casar has hinted that he believes foreign nationals living in Austin should be allowed to vote. Cesar is running for Congress this election cycle. Texas Secretary of State John B. Scott has made it clear that any municipality passing a law similar to those of NYC and San Francisco would be violating Texas state law.
Huffines is the CEO of Huffines Communities, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based real estate development firm. From 2015 to 2019 Huffines served in the Texas Senate, representing the people of Texas' 16th senate district. He joins a crowded field, along with former Florida Congressman and Texas GOP Chairman Allen West and media personality Chad Prather, challenging Abbott in the Mar. 1 GOP gubernatorial primary, according to Ballotpedia.
Former El Paso City Council member and U.S. Congressman Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke leads the Democratic field for nomination to run for governor. O'Rourke previously mounted two unsuccessful campaigns for U.S. Senate and president of the United States.
Elected in 2014, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is currently serving as the 48th governor of Texas. Before being elected governor, Abbott was the longest-serving attorney general of Texas.
