Democratic Dreams Dashed As Texas Railroad Commission Remains Republican Only

[Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:06 a.m. CT Nov. 4.]

Hoping to break the liberal curse in Texas, Democrat Railroad Commission candidate Chrysta Castañeda hoped to ride high voter turnout, a flood of cash and a potential blue wave into office.

Ultimately, the vote remained resolutely red. Castañeda failed to overtake Republican opponent James “Jim” Wright, garnering 43.31% of the vote to 53.27%, according to Texas Secretary of State unofficial vote tallies. All 254 Texas counties have reported results.

Wright, an upstart candidate himself, surprised conservatives in the March Republican primary by deposing incumbent commissioner Ryan Sitton.

Still, the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO), welcomed the result, singling out the Railroad Commissioner contest as one of “critical importance for regulating the Texas oil and gas industry,” in a morning press release on Nov. 4.

Texas statewide offices that have been off-limits to those bearing the scarlet political letter “D” for Democrat persists. For a quarter of a century, Democrats have been shut out from any statewide office. That includes the Texas Railroad Commission, the regulator of all things oil and gas in the state.

In a bit of political irony, one of the last Democrats elected to a statewide office was to the railroad commission, when Carole Keeton Ryland (later Carole Keeton Strayhorn) won a seat in December 1994.

Wright and Castañeda’s 2020 race had several unusual quirks, however. For one, the Austin American-Statesman suggested in a report that Wright might have won because of his name—an echo of Democratic legend Jim Wright, a former U.S. Speaker of the House. The report noted that Sitton had been upset despite a campaign war chest of more than $2 million and the backing of the governor and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

Castañeda, too, drew a striking amount of out-of-state attention—and money—typically absent from lower-level Texas statewide races.

A Dallas resident who works as an engineer and founding partner of an energy litigation firm, Castañeda reported raising $3.7 million in campaign contributions between Sept. 25 and Oct. 24—largely buoyed by a $2.6 million donation by businessman and politician Michael Bloomberg. Overall, she raised $4.1 million from January through October, giving her a three-to-one fundraising advantage over Wright, whose contributions during the same time totaled $1.3 million.

Wright used his rival’s fundraising as a line of attack in the race, saying that he wouldn’t be “beholden to East Coast liberal extremists.”

“Texas is NOT for sale,” Wright said on his website, adding he would stand up for Texas jobs and support American energy independence.

Wright had a variety of industry support, including contributions from the Texas Oil and Gas Association Good Government Committee and Stephen Chazen, an independent chairman and director of Houston-based Occidental Petroleum Corp.

Castañeda attracted industry support as well, including from Matt Gallagher, CEO of Parsley Energy Inc., for her stance on flaring and methane reduction.

Commissioners serve six-year terms and are paid $137,500 annually.