Meet the Gen-Z GOP political consultant helping lead the Texas comptroller’s office
By Alejandro Serrano, The Texas Tribune
September 15, 2026
As Don Huffines settled into his new post this summer as the new Texas comptroller overseeing the state’s finances, he arranged meetings to introduce himself to top level staff and to get to know their work. Often, he was accompanied by his second-in-command.
Call him “Mr. Betz,” Huffines instructed in one such meeting, referring to his fresh-faced top deputy.
Mr. Betz is Noah Betz, a Gen-Z political wunderkind who graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in business administration in 2023 and is now holding the second-most powerful position at the state agency with 3,000 employees. Betz did not disclose his age. Public records suggest he is either 24 or 25 years old.
Betz’s appointment as chief clerk — commonly referred to as deputy comptroller — comes as dozens have left or been pushed out, representing the loss of hundreds of years of institutional knowledge and experience at the agency, in what five former employees described as a chaotic start to Huffines’ temporary tenure. Those workers spoke on the condition of anonymity, out of fear they could be reprimanded by their new employers or that speaking publicly can affect their job prospects.
Betz is earning $306,000 a year, according to records — double the salary of previous acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock, who left the job at the end of July. That puts him in the top 1% of salaries for government employees. (Huffines says he’s not accepting a government salary.)
Most of Betz’s experience in the three years since graduating has been in consulting for hardline conservative politicians — including Huffines’ current campaign for a full four-year term — and leading Huffines’ real estate and development firm, according to a review of Betz’s hiring paperwork, LinkedIn profile, and previous news coverage that featured his work.
Betz declined to be interviewed for this story.
“Comptroller Huffines is a successful businessman who certainly knows how to run an organization and staff a talented team. He doesn’t need hiring advice from liberal activists,” Jeff Norwood, associate deputy comptroller of external affairs, said in response to a list of detailed questions. “Comptroller Huffines has appointed a strong and experienced leadership team that has contributed to his immediate efforts to reform the agency with dramatic improvements, all to the benefit of the taxpayer.“
Among those who were fired or who left are several top level administrators like Lisa Craven, the former deputy comptroller who served in the role for almost 12 years after three decades as a legislative staffer, and Brad Reynolds, who was the chief revenue estimator for five years and who had been with that division since 2010.
Betz’s assignment is the latest example of how Huffines is overhauling a state agency that is responsible for some of the state’s most important business, like issuing state revenue estimates that establish how much money the Legislature has to draft Texas’ budget every two years.
Huffines is set to face Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, an Austin Democrat, in November’s general election, who said she’s worried about the dramatic loss of expertise being pushed out.
“The office is being weaponized,” Eckhardt said. “My concern here is we are seeing the depth of knowledge being routed out of the comptroller’s office.”
On the campaign trail and in some of his earliest remarks as comptroller, the former state senator and Dallas businessman has vowed to upend the status quo — as he has pledged for most of his time as a GOP elected official, building a reputation as a champion of limited government.
“In just 30 business days, we’ve made tremendous progress protecting Texas taxpayers and making this office more efficient by eliminating redundancy and flattening the management structure,” “I’ve spent my career building organizations, and the first rule is simple: You are only as successful as the people you hire,” Huffines said in a press release Monday announcing his leadership teams. “I’ve recruited experienced people who have spent their careers in tax law, state finance, criminal investigations, and government affairs, and they share my commitment to serve the taxpayer with urgency and efficiency — not to serve government bureaucracy.”
Early alliances with the far right
Betz’s early foray into politics can be traced to his time at Texas A&M, as he pursued a bachelor’s of business administration degree with a concentration in marketing, analytics and consulting after graduating from a Christian school outside of Houston in 2020.
In his second year as an Aggie, Betz led the campus chapter of Young Conservatives of Texas, a group that advocates for conservative values. On Twitter, he began interacting with key provocateurs in Texas’ far right — like Texas Scorecard publisher Michael Quinn Sullivan and Texas True Project leader Julie McCarty — while wading into online spats, according to responses to his posts. Some of the posts have been deleted; Betz has made his account private so none are visible.
Often, it appears the recipient of Betz’s criticisms was Dade Phelan, the former speaker of the Texas House who oversaw the historic impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2023. The Texas Senate later acquitted Paxton of charges he had abused his office.
“Absolutely correct,” one user responded to Betz on the day of the acquittal. “Mr. Phelan, the TX House and Senate RINOS and the associated Bushies should be on notice now.”
In April 2024, Tim O’Hare — the ultraconservative county executive of Tarrant County — hired Betz for a five-month, $5,000 contract to fill a vacancy in the county’s communications department. The deal came under fire almost instantly.
Democratic Commissioner Alisa Simmons, who this year is challenging O’Hare, blasted the proposal in part because of a loophole. There are strict guidelines for county employees’ engagement in political work. But as a contractor Betz would be able to continue working politics while collecting a county paycheck from a county judge who has been held up as a symbol by the far right of exemplary local government. By then, Betz had already started a consulting firm.
Campaign finance filings show that Betz’s consulting firm, Bluestone Creatives, has received a steady stream of work. Since 2022, when Betz was still a student, Huffines has paid Bluestone nearly $2.7 million for consulting services, marketing and even Christmas cards, campaign finance filings show.
State Reps. Andy Hopper and Katrina Pierson, two Republicans who ousted lawmakers who had voted to impeach Paxton, have given Bluestone nearly another half million worth of work.
A biography provided by the comptroller’s office states that Betz was brought on to help Huffines with improving efficiency and overseeing the agency’s operations.
A job description posted online by the state auditor lists knowledge of the principles and practices of public administration, state government, state fiscal management and state tax policy under the general qualifications for the job.
This appears to be Betz’ first job in either state government or public finance.
Betz’s hiring paperwork says that the number of people he supervised as Bluestone’s principal varied. He wrote that he “performed senior-level administration and managerial work, including strategic planning and daily operations,” and “exercised independent judgment with no supervision” of his own.
The records also show he began serving as the chief of staff at Huffines Enterprises, the comptroller’s real estate and development company, in 2023. The hiring paperwork lists no prior work experience, but Huffines said that Betz started working for him in 2021.
The Tribune requested Betz’s personnel file, including his resume and his job description. But the agency did not produce either of those documents and provided no explanation.
Chaotic exits
Hancock’s resignation in June caught people by surprise, three of the former employees said. After all, they described, he had taken his primary loss in stride and remained focused on the work he was accomplishing. There was talk among employees — perhaps hopeful — that the governor would appoint Craven, the well-respected former deputy comptroller.
Instead, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Huffines. Two weeks later, Craven submitted her own resignation on July 16, according to a copy obtained through an open records request.
Betz’s youth and limited experience is drawn into sharp relief when contrasted against his predecessor.
Craven began her career in state government 40 years before Betz. While at the University of Texas at Austin, Craven started working at the Capitol as a tour guide before stints as legislative aide and chief of staff for numerous lawmakers. In 2015, she followed then-Sen. Hegar to the comptroller’s office.
“I like helping people get their start and seeing them grow and feel fulfilled in their careers,” she said in 2022 after winning the Outstanding Women in Texas Government Award.
Craven did not respond to emails and texts.
More exits would follow.
In interviews, fired employees described a chaotic few weeks that preceded the termination of their employment. One found out late one afternoon when they tried logging into their computer following meetings, only to discover they had been locked out of their computer. Then, they started receiving condolences but did not know for what. Two others described similar confusion, citing being locked out of their computers before being informed they were terminated.
“There were so many people and they were all people that we worked very closely with. We didn’t even get to say goodbye. … People weren’t even allowed in to get their things,” one former employee recounted about an early round of layoffs, from which they were initially spared. “It was scary because it was like, well, if they could do that to all of these people who, you know, they had been at the agency 20, 30, 40 years, they were directors, they were very highly respected in the agency — if that could happen to those people, it could happen to anyone.”
The following week, that employee was fired.
Huffines has not weighed in publicly on the spate of departures. In an interview with Texas Scorecard, he said that he is trying to wrap his arms around the agency. In another interview, he said he inherited a “mess” that he and his executive team are cleaning up.
“It would be so much easier, like I predicted a year ago, just to step in, let the bureaucrats run the agency,” he said in the Scorecard interview. “That’s what’s happened for decades in this agency.”
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This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.