Special Senate Election in the Making
with Creighton Poised for Post at Tech
Capitol Inside
August 31, 2025
Republican State Senator Brandon Creighton of Conroe emerged on Sunday as the lone finalist for the chancellor's post at the Texas Tech University System in the wake of a competition that turned bruising behind the scenes with U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington of Lubbock as the chief rival.
Fort Worth energy firm owner Cody Campbell - the TTU system's board chairman - revealed Creighton's selection in a social media post that portrayed the decision as the product of "a lengthy, thorough, and comprehensive search" for a new chancellor.
"Senator Creighton is a proven leader, with deep ties to and understanding of higher education. He has been a strong voice in the fight to get our colleges and universities back on track and clearly shares the values and the vision of the Texas Tech community," Campbell said on x. "He is, unquestionably, the right person for the job, and we all look forward to working with him.
Creighton - a former House member who won a promotion to the upper chamber in 2014 - had credentials in state government oversight of academia as a former Higher Education Committee chairman who's led the Senate Education Committee since 2021. But Creighton didn't have local roots and ties that all of three former Tech chancellors shared as legislators before making the jump to higher education.
Arrington checked a lot of boxes a native of nearby Plainview who went to college at Texas Tech and worked as an assistant to Kent Hance when he worked as the chancellor there. Another former Tech chancellor, Robert Duncan, is a Tech graduate who was based in Lubbock when he served in the Texas Senate before landing the chancellor appointment. Hance's predecessor in the chancellor's office, John Montford, worked as the district attorney in Lubbock and represented the area in the state Senate before signing on with Tech. Hance attended Tech as an undergraduate and lived in Lubbock when he served in the Texas Senate and the U.S. House.
Arrington played up the local connections when he pitched himself as a candidate for the chancellor's post with Hance aggressively involved on his behalf outside the public view.
But Arrington offered words of cheer to Creighton for coming out on top.
"To my fellow West Texans and Red Raiders, please join me in congratulating our next Chancellor, Brandon Creighton,” Arrington said. “I am ready to help Brandon ‘bear our banners far and wide’ in our nation’s capital and beyond as he leads the greatest University System in all the land. Guns up, and Go West Texas!!”
Creighton has been one of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick's top lieutenants in the Senate during the past decade. While Patrick didn't appear to take an active role in the chancellor search at Tech, he favored Creighton for the position. Governor Greg Abbott appeared to stay out of the competition for the top Tech job but could have some degree of influence in the Creighton pick.
Creighton's formal hiring appears to be a formality as the only remaining candidate for the position that Tedd Mitchell is giving up after seven years. Creighton's departure in Austin will prompt the governor to call a special election in Senate District 4 - a heavily Republican swath of southeast Texas near Houston.
more to come ...
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