The Railroad Commission of Texas is the Lone Star State’s oldest government agency.
What started out as a body tasked with preventing discrimination in railroad charges, now oversees regulations for the state’s oil and natural gas industry.
Those industries generated $8.43 billion in tax revenue for the state in 2023, according to the comptroller’s office.
Here are the candidates running for a seat on the three member railroad commission
Christi Craddick
Political Party: Republican
Did not respond
Katherine Culbert
Political Party: Democrat
Age: 49
Campaign website: www.katherine4texas.com
Best way for voters to reach you: info@katherine4texas.com, www.facebook.com/katherine4texas
Occupation: Chemical Engineer
Education: BS in Paper Science & Engineering from SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry, MBA from the University at Albany, MS in Law from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought, with years): No
Please list the highlights of your civic involvement/activism: Co-Chair of League of Women Election Day Voter Helpline,
Committee Member of Houston Marathon Committee,
Past President of the Society of Women Engineers Houston Area Section along with having served as a Section Representative and Regional Secretary since I became a SWE member in 2006,
Board member of the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Texas Gulf Coast chapter,
Environment Huddle as part of Indivisible TxLege,
Membership Committee of the Women’s Energy Network Houston.
Have you ever been arrested, charged with a crime or otherwise been part of a criminal proceeding? If yes, please explain: No
Have you been involved in a civil lawsuit or bankruptcy proceeding? If yes, please explain: No
Who are your top three campaign contributors?: Eleanor Hildreth, Inaas Darrat, Texas AFL-CIO COPE
Why are you seeking this office?: I have been working in the safety side of the oil and gas industry for over 10 years, and in safety for all industries for over 20 years. I have also been passionate about the environment and protecting our natural resources since I was in elementary school. I was raised knowing the value of conservation and protecting natural resources. I recognize the value of conserving energy and feel industry needs to be a partner in that effort. Over 20 years of my professional life has been spent ensuring safe industrial operations. Right now, the RRC is not the steward to our natural resources, nor does it ensure safe operations.
We need new leadership to protect our state and our fellow Texans and be a voice for everyday Texans to help us all thrive and prosper.
What are your top 3 policy priorities?: Safety & the Environment: As a Process Safety Engineer with over 20 years of experience, I am deeply committed to operating our industry with the highest regard for safety, protecting both our workers and communities.
Corporate Responsibility: I believe in strict accountability for corporations in the oil and gas industry. It’s essential to question and scrutinize their actions, particularly when they seek exceptions to regulations. We must ensure these multi-billion dollar corporations are considering the impact their operations will have on surrounding communities and the risks they might pose.
Transparency: I aim to challenge the status quo and question how decisions are made, especially when it comes to corporate influence and campaign contributions. It’s vital that the Commission’s actions are driven by the best interests of Texans, not by corporate donations.
Why should voters choose you over your opponents?: I am uniquely qualified for this position due to my experience in the Oil & Gas industry. I have worked for Upstream, Midstream, and Downstream companies, which are all regulated by the RRC. As a Process Safety Engineer, I have worked to be proactive to prevent incidents and to protect workers, the environment, and the community. I also recognize the importance of the Oil & Gas industry for the Texas economy. It is an asset to have a Commissioner who has industry experience.
What’s a policy issue that’s important to you, but not necessarily as high profile? Why do you think it’s important?: Injection wells for wastewater. The limits the RRC are putting on the injection wells are not working. We need to prohibit injection wells near natural fault lines. Additionally, we need to hold the companies accountable for treating the water so it is not toxic and can be reused elsewhere.
There are scientific studies showing that injection wells are a direct cause of earthquakes, and there is anecdotal evidence from across the country that draws the same conclusion. We need to listen to the science and stop allowing wastewater injection wells across the state, not only in areas that have already experienced earthquakes. The industry needs to learn how to clean up after itself and figure out what to do with its waste streams. Companies need to invest in research and development to address this problem.
Will you accept the results of your election regardless of the outcome?: Yes, I accept the will of the voters.
Hawk Dunlap
Political Party: Libertarian
Age: 54
Campaign website: Hawk4texas.com
Best way for voters to reach you: Visit website hawk4texas.com or any of my social media platforms @hawkdunlap
Occupation: Well Control Specialist
Education: BS from Stephen F Austin
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought, with years): No
Please list the highlights of your civic involvement/activism: Masonic Lodge # 404, junior golf league sponsor, FFA and 4H sponsor
Have you ever been arrested, charged with a crime or otherwise been part of a criminal proceeding? If yes, please explain: Yes DWI 1999
Have you been involved in a civil lawsuit or bankruptcy proceeding? If yes, please explain: No
Who are your top three campaign contributors?: None I am not accepting donations
Why are you seeking this office?: To show the industry actually can regulate itself. To reform the RRC by simply enforcing the Statewide Rules.
What are your top 3 policy priorities?: Encourage the legislature to change the name of the RRC, provide technical expertise to the 3 member commission, and tackle produced water injection – the root of our most damaging problems.
Why should voters choose you over your opponents?: 34 years of oil and gas industry experience. I am currently in the field everyday battling the issues that are facing the oil and gas industry. Follow me on social media to see who I really am and why Texas needs me on the RRC.
What’s a policy issue that’s important to you, but not necessarily as high profile? Why do you think it’s important?: How royalty owners are getting watered out by the mismanagement of produced water and how non- operating working interest owners and taxpayers will be left footing the bill.
Will you accept the results of your election regardless of the outcome?: Yes
Eddie Espinoza
Political Party: Green
Age: 54
Campaign website: www.espinoza4tx.com
Best way for voters to reach you: espinoza4tx@gmail.com
Occupation: Army Veteran and Retired Elementary Teacher
Education: BA Political Science
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought, with years): Eddie Espinoza is not a politician, he’s a problem solver. This is his first time running for office.
Please list the highlights of your civic involvement/activism: Eddie Espinoza is a Green Party organizer, a climate activist, and an advocate for peace. His civic involvement is motivated by decades of experience as a public elementary school teacher. His students inspired him to work for a better future for all our kids.
As a Green Party organizer, Eddie Espinoza is spreading the message that the Green Party and Green candidates do not take campaign contributions from corporations, political action committees, or lobbyists. The Green Party stands for People, Planet, and Peace.
Have you ever been arrested, charged with a crime or otherwise been part of a criminal proceeding? If yes, please explain: No.
Have you been involved in a civil lawsuit or bankruptcy proceeding? If yes, please explain: No.
Who are your top three campaign contributors?: As a Green Party candidate, Eddie Espinoza has pledged to only take donations from the Green Party or from individual donors, not from corporations, PACs, or lobbyists. His biggest donors are The Green Party of the United States and grassroots individual donors Andrew Smith and Ed Stapleton.
Why are you seeking this office?: For too long the Railroad Commission has operated to benefit the oil and gas industry, with Commissioners who personally profit from the industry, and take huge campaign contributions from the industry.
The oil and gas industry will never take responsibility for the harms they cause to public health, the environment, and the climate while they’re regulating themselves at the Railroad Commission.
Things must change. Eddie Espinoza is running for Railroad Commissioner to send a message that Texas regulators should take neither income nor campaign donations from the industries they regulate.
What are your top 3 policy priorities?: 1. Speed up the transition from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy like solar, wind, and utility-scale batteries. 2. Ban fracking and cancel all new fossil fuel projects, including LNG gas export terminals. 3. Plug, clean, and decommission abandoned oil and gas wells, which are polluting our soil, water, and air.
Why should voters choose you over your opponents?: Candidates who say fundraising and industry income don’t influence them are lying!
Eddie Espinoza hasn’t taken any oil and gas industry donations, and he never will – unlike his opponents.
Eddie Espinoza receives no oil and gas industry income, and he never will – unlike his opponents.
The Green Party is the only political party taking global warming seriously.
The Green Party and Green candidates refuse to accept campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, or any industry.
You can trust Eddie Espinoza to work for you, not for the oil and gas industry, as Railroad Commissioner.
You can trust Eddie Espinoza to protect your family’s freshwater sources, protect the soil that our farmers depend on, and work towards effective climate change solutions.
What’s a policy issue that’s important to you, but not necessarily as high profile? Why do you think it’s important?: The Texas Railroad Commission should be renamed the Texas Energy Commission. This would improve transparency and public engagement.
Will you accept the results of your election regardless of the outcome?: Yes.
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