Land Commissioner Race Tightens as Buckingham and Flores Split on Relief Funds

The race to lead the Texas General Land Office has drawn renewed attention this month as Republican incumbent Dawn Buckingham faces Democrat Benjamin Flores for the office that oversees 13 million acres of state-owned land and directs earnings from that land toward public education.

Buckingham, who has held the post since 2023, previously worked as a plastic surgeon after attending medical school at UT-Galveston. As commissioner she has overseen a project exceeding $500 million to remodel the Alamo grounds in San Antonio. The General Land Office serves as custodian of the Alamo, while day-to-day operations are run by the Alamo Trust. The agency also administers veterans' land programs and oversees long-term federal disaster spending following floods and hurricanes.

Flores, born in Mexico, came to the United States in 1996 and later earned citizenship. He served on the Bay City council and works in cybersecurity. He and his family keep a small ranch and a pig farm in Bay City. "I came to the U.S. in 1996 with a big dream. I worked my way up, earned my citizenship, and built a career in cybersecurity," Flores said in a campaign video.

The candidates differ on how the agency handled federal relief money after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Critics said the office under then Commissioner George P. Bush directed mitigation funding away from communities of color, a position the Biden administration backed. The Trump administration cleared Texas of civil rights violations earlier this year. Buckingham called the allegations politically motivated. Flores said he would work to return funds to hurricane victims in Houston. The two also split on border operations. Buckingham has supported Operation Lone Star and after the 2024 election offered a 1,400-acre property in Starr County to President Trump for a facility handling processing, detention and coordination. Flores said immigration enforcement falls outside the office's duties: "There is no capacity in which the land commissioner in my view, and I don't think by legislature, should be trying to enforce certain laws that do not belong under the general land office."

Jon Taylor, political science chair at UT-San Antonio, said the office draws candidates because of the money it manages. "The idea is that it's managing the state's affairs in terms of money, especially disaster relief, public schools. Those are important things, so it does make sense that someone would want this position," Taylor said.

Buckingham has raised far more than Flores in campaign funds. Polls show the contest close, matching the pattern in other statewide races in Texas this year.