{"id":15781,"date":"2012-07-31T13:24:17","date_gmt":"2012-07-31T18:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=15781"},"modified":"2012-08-01T23:56:35","modified_gmt":"2012-08-02T04:56:35","slug":"railroad-commission-run-off-today-with-lots-of-help-from-the-oil-and-gas-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/07\/31\/railroad-commission-run-off-today-with-lots-of-help-from-the-oil-and-gas-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"How Oil and Gas Dollars Fueled the Railroad Commission Race"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photos courtesy of Chisum for Texas and Craddick for Texas<\/p>

Warren Chisum, left, and Christi Craddick, right, face off today in the Republican Primary runoff for Railroad Commission of Texas.<\/p><\/div>\n

Will Texas regulators be willing to police the hand that funds them?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Polls are open today in the Republican primary runoff race for two seats on the Railroad Commission of Texas<\/a>. But the commission has nothing to do with railroads and everything to do with regulating the oil and gas industry in Texas.<\/p>\n

Republican Barry Smitherman, current chair of the commission (he was appointed by Governor Rick Perry after chair Michael Williams left for a failed Congressional bid<\/a>), is widely expected to win his run-off against Greg Parker. Aside from some heavy anti-Obama and anti-EPA rhetoric<\/a>\u00a0in his campaign, Smitherman has also called for updating the agency’s website<\/a> and recently\u00a0enacted tighter revolving door rules<\/a>. (Update:<\/strong> Smitherman won<\/a>, as expected.)<\/p>\n

The race for the other seat is a bit tighter. It features Republican Warren Chisum against Republican Christi Craddick. Warren Chisum is a state representative from Pampa who chose to run for the commission instead of reelection. He’s also made a fortune in the oil and gas industry<\/a>. Chisum is facing off against Christi Craddick, an oil and gas attorney and daughter of longtime state representative (and former Texas House Speaker)\u00a0Tom Craddick<\/a>. In the initial primary,\u00a0Craddick got roughly 36 percent of the vote, while Chisum won around 27 percent<\/a>.\u00a0Now the two are in a runoff, and the winner will face Democratic challenger Dale Henry this fall. (Update:<\/strong> With over 61 percent of the vote, Craddick beat Chisum<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

As far as what they would do differently on the commission, it’s been difficult to tell the two candidates apart. Chisum and Craddick have both employed heavy bravado about keeping the federal government out of state regulation of oil and gas. Not surprisingly, contributions to both Craddick and Chisum have come from individuals and corporations involved in oil and gas, the same companies they would regulate as commissioners.<\/p>\n

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