BREAKING: Trump Ally EXPOSED for Buying Jeffrey Epstein's Secret Ranch
Don Huffines wants to be the next comptroller of Texas. He is the frontrunner in the Republican primary. He is running on a promise to “DOGE Texas government.” He is a former GOP state senator and Trump ally.
He also secretly owns Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous Zorro Ranch, the property where multiple survivors say they were abused, and he hid that ownership behind an anonymous shell company for three years.
What He Bought
In 2023, an LLC called San Rafael Ranch, created by the Huffines family, purchased Jeffrey Epstein’s nearly 10,000-acre New Mexico property, previously known as Zorro Ranch, for an undisclosed price. The property includes a 26,700-square-foot hilltop mansion, a private airstrip, a hangar, and a helipad. It was the ranch where, according to the New York Times, Epstein intended to “seed the human race with his DNA by impregnating women.”
Huffines’ campaign says the family bought the property four years after Epstein’s death, at a public auction whose proceeds benefited his victims, and that the family had never visited the property before it went up for auction.
He Hid the Purchase Behind an LLC for Three Years
Huffines did not disclose this purchase. It came out because of public records.
New Mexico allows anonymous ownership of private property through LLCs, and for three years the Huffines family used that loophole to keep their ownership secret. The purchase only became public after the LLC changed the name of a road on the property and challenged its property taxes in Santa Fe County, triggering a public records request that connected the ownership to Mary Catherine Huffines.
The ranch was initially valued at $21.1 million for the 2023 tax year. The Huffines argued that figure was inflated by the property’s “notoriety.” Santa Fe County agreed and reassessed the value down to $13.4 million.
He fought to lower his tax bill on Jeffrey Epstein’s ranch by arguing the ranch’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein made it worth less. That is what forced the ownership into public view.
The Timing Is Not a Coincidence
The revelation of Huffines’ ownership came just days after a New Mexico state official called for an investigation into allegations that two girls were killed and buried on the property.
New Mexico lawmakers have filed a House resolution alleging that Zorro Ranch was an “instrumentality of serious criminal activity” that went largely uninvestigated by state or local officials before the relevant statutes of limitations expired. Lawmakers expressed concern that the failure to investigate crimes potentially committed on the property threatens public confidence in state government and public safety.
A sitting Republican candidate for statewide office in Texas owns the property at the center of that resolution. He was not publicly known as the owner until a reporter filed a records request.
His Response
Huffines’ spokesperson, Allen Blakemore, said the family has never been approached by any law enforcement agency requesting access to the ranch, but that they will offer “full and complete cooperation” if and when they are.
No agency has asked. The family that owns the property at the center of a state resolution calling for a criminal investigation says they are ready to cooperate with an investigation that, as of now, is not asking to look at their property.
Who Don Huffines Is
Huffines is a Dallas businessman who served one term in the Texas Senate before losing his seat in 2018. In 2022, he ran against Governor Greg Abbott in the Republican primary, campaigning against Abbott’s handling of COVID-19, and lost.
He is now the frontrunner in the 2026 Republican primary for Texas comptroller, an office that oversees the state’s finances and tax collection. He has positioned himself as a MAGA candidate and carries an endorsement from Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. His campaign platform centers on bringing a DOGE-style approach to Texas state government.
How His Own Party Is Reacting
This is not simply a Democratic talking point. Texas Republicans themselves are raising alarms.
Members of Huffines’ own party have expressed concern about a GOP statewide candidate secretly purchasing property tied to a convicted sex offender’s known criminal activity, and are calling for transparency and an investigation into the circumstances.
A Republican frontrunner for statewide office kept his ownership of Jeffrey Epstein’s ranch hidden for three years. His own party wants answers before Texas voters go to the polls.
The Bottom Line
Don Huffines wants to manage the finances of the state of Texas. For three years, he used an anonymous LLC to hide his family’s ownership of the ranch where Jeffrey Epstein allegedly abused teenage girls and young women, and where state lawmakers now say serious criminal activity went uninvestigated for years.
He only became a known part of that story because he tried to lower his property tax bill.
Texas voters are heading to the polls. They deserve to know what their comptroller candidate has been hiding, and why.