This fall, three candidates are running for a six-year term on the Texas Railroad Commission.
What you need to know
Texas voters will choose from Republican Bo French, Libertarian Arthur DiBianca and Democrat Jon Rosenthal in the railroad commissioner race during the Nov. 3 election. The winner of the race will be sworn in to replace incumbent Commissioner Jim Wright in January.
French beat Wright in a May Republican primary runoff, advancing to the general election. Rosenthal ran uncontested in the March Democratic primary, while DiBianca was selected as the Texas Libertarian Party's candidate during an April nominating convention.
Write-in candidates may also appear on the ballot; however, Community Impact does not send questionnaires to write-in candidates.
Did you know?
The three-member railroad commission does not have any jurisdiction over the state's railroads—that authority was transferred to the Texas Department of Transportation and the federal government by 2005, according to the commission's website. Instead, the agency regulates Texas' oil and gas industries.
Preparing for the polls
Early voting runs from Oct. 19-30, and Election Day is Nov. 3. In addition to eight statewide races, the following state-level seats are up for election this fall:
- 38 U.S. House seats (by congressional district)
- Four seats on the Texas Supreme Court (statewide)
- Three seats on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (statewide)
- Three seats on Texas' 15th Court of Appeals (statewide)
- 16 state Senate seats (by legislative district)
- 150 state House seats (by legislative district)
- Eight State Board of Education seats (by SBOE district)
For more coverage of local and state races, visit communityimpact.com/election.
Zooming in
Community Impact's goal with election Q&As is to provide a side-by-side, equitable resource for Texas voters to review candidates' perspectives before they head to the polls.
To ensure that candidates are the ones defining their positions, if candidates did not complete the questionnaire after multiple attempts to contact them, Community Impact's website reads "candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time." Candidates were informed of this policy.
Candidates were asked to keep responses under 50 words, answer the questions provided and avoid attacking opponents. Answers may have been minimally edited or cut to adhere to those guidelines, or for style and clarity.
