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The family of Don Huffines, a former Republican Texas senator who is now campaigning to become the state’s comptroller, bought the disgraced Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico after the child sex trafficker and molester died.

“Four years after Mr. Epstein’s death, the Huffines family purchased property in New Mexico listed at public auction whose proceeds benefited his victims. Prior to the auction listing, they had never visited the property,” Huffines’ campaign spokesperson Allen Blakemore said in a statement Friday.

The ownership was first reported earlier Friday by the Santa Fe New Mexican, which attributed its reporting to public records obtained through public information requests.

A limited liability corporation tied to the Huffines family bought the property in 2023 for an undisclosed amount, and later protested its valuation to $13.4 million for tax purposes in part because of the “notoriety” of the property, according to the New Mexico newspaper. Public records received by the paper tied Huffines to the company.

Huffines, a businessman, previously served in the Texas Senate representing the Dallas area. He unsuccessfully challenged Gov. Greg Abbott in 2022. A poll released this week showed he is heading into early voting next week with a steady lead over the other candidates in the primary for comptroller. The comptroller acts as the state’s chief financial officer, managing the state’s taxes, investments and other duties.

Huffines faces Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock, a former state senator appointed to the job last summer by Abbott, Michael Berlanga and Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick in the March 3 Republican primary.

The revelation of the ownership arrived in the wake of the latest release of documents from the U.S. Department of Justice about Epstein, whose death has created conspiracy theories due to the billionaire’s connections to the nation’s powerful — from elected officials to university leaders — and has become a political conundrum for Republicans across the nation.

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Alejandro Serrano writes about Texas politics and government, with a focus on immigration and education issues. Since joining the Tribune, he has helped investigate the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, lived...