Earlier this year, Governor Greg Abbott ordered his longtime mentee and newly appointed Secretary of State David Whitley to purge the Texas voter rolls of suspected noncitizens. It was bungled from the start. Whitley’s office flagged nearly 100,000 registered voters for citizenship review, which Abbott and others promptly used to stoke fears of rampant voter fraud. But nearly a quarter of the names on the list were included by mistake and many more were naturalized citizens. The state was sued for voting rights violations and Congress launched an investigation before Whitley eventually agreed to shutter the whole thing. Despite the governor’s best efforts, Democrats in the state Senate blocked Whitley’s confirmation and he resigned on the last day of the legislative session.
On Monday, Abbott finally appointed Whitley’s replacement: Ruth Ruggero Hughs, who was chair of the Texas Workforce Commission, an agency with a sprawling mandate that includes enforcing state’s labor laws and administering unemployment insurance.
As secretary of state, Hughs, who is originally from Argentina, is charged with overseeing the state’s elections, among other duties, while also restoring the public’s trust, particularly of Hispanic Texans who were wrongfully targeted by Abbott’s attempted purge. “As an immigrant to America & now a citizen of our great country she cherishes the right to vote & will ensure that right is safeguarded,” Abbott tweeted Monday.
