By Rory Dulock | Staff Writer
Republican incumbent Christi Craddick won the Railroad Commissioner race for a third-straight term on Tuesday night. She took nearly 60% of the votes.
The current three commissioners are Republican Chairman Christi Craddick, Republican Commissioner Wayne Christian and Republican Commissioner Jim Wright. Each term is six years long, and every two years there is a reelection for Railroad Commissioner.
The candidates who were seeking the open Railroad Commissioner slot were Craddick, Democratic candidate Katherine Culbert, Green Party candidate Eddie Espinoza, Libertarian Hawk Dunlap and Richard McKibbin, a write-in candidate.
Craddick took to social media after the results came in, stating, “Tonight, Texans reaffirmed their commitment to a sound, prosperous business climate that enables Texas energy to grow even as we enforce sensible regulations to protect our precious natural resources.”
Craddick was first appointed commissioner back in 2012. She said via email that if reelected, she would push for regulations that support Texas’ energy independence and rights.
“My gratitude goes out to everyone who supported me, along with my assurances that I will continue to utilize my experience and judgement to stand up for Texas jobs, Texas prosperity and Texas security.”
According to Craddick, other important goals include providing consistent regulation to allow industry to innovate and develop new technologies. She said she aims to protect Texans’ health, safety and private property rights through these initiatives.
Culbert was runner-up to Craddick, pulling in just under 40% of votes. Culbert said she is still processing the election results and that soon she will regroup and figure out her next steps.
“I’m disappointed,” Culbert said. “I was hoping for a stronger showing, but I guess this is what happens when you let oil and gas run the state and run the elections and they’re buying their way in and keeping their lax regulators in place.”
Although Culbert was disappointed with the campaign results, she found teaching Texans the importance of the Railroad Commission was a rewarding process.
“It’s important to educate the Texans about what the Railroad Commission is because I think a lot of people don’t understand the importance [of it], so it was good to get out there and talk to people and let them know how important this race really is,” Culbert said. “Hopefully in two years they’ll pay a little more attention and hopefully we can get some change eventually.”
Espinoza came in third just behind Culbert, pulling in around 2% of votes. Espinoza said that 2% of votes is important for the Green Party of Texas, because if they maintain 2% of a statewide vote, the Green Party of Texas will be guaranteed ballot access for the next 10 years.
“We were working with the shoestring budget, and we just had a lot of volunteers. I would say two months ago we were going nowhere and then I think maybe beginning Labor Day, like the first week of September, things really took off,” Espinoza said. “It’s tough going up against two political machines that are the Texas Democrats and the Texas Republicans. But considering we spent very little money, we’re happy with the results.”
Espinoza said he’ll probably take a break for a couple of months and then talk to his campaign advisor and other people with the Green Party of Texas to see what would be the best approach forward not only for himself, but for the Green Party of Texas.
“[With Craddick back as commissioner] we’re going to keep getting the same lack of oversight and regulation and we’re going to continue to see fossil fuel corporations get whatever they need passed through the commission,” Espinoza said. “As far as the campaign, we were happy that we were able to get votes from across the political spectrum.”
Dunlap, who received around 2% of votes, and McKibbin, who received 0.01% of votes, were unable to be reached for comment.
