Texas state executive official elections, 2012

Two state executive positions were up for election in 2012 in the state of Texas.

• Texas Railroad Commission (2 officers)

The primary was held on May 29, 2012 with the general election on November 6, 2012.

Since no candidate in either of the two Republican primaries captured more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote getters in each race faced off in a runoff election on July 31, 2012.

Despite its name, the commission does not regulate railroads but instead oversees the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and surface coal and uranium mining.

• Railroad Commissioner 2
• Railroad Commissioner 3
• Key deadlines

Incumbent Buddy Garcia (R) did not seek re-election. He was appointed to the post by Gov. Rick Perry (R) on April 12, 2012 to fill the vacancy left by Elizabeth Ames Jones (R), who resigned to run for Texas State Senate. Garcia was only appointed to serve until the November 6 general election.

The winner, Christi Craddick (R), will serve a full six-year term on the commission.

General

November 6 General election candidates:

Dale Henry

Christi Craddick

Chris Kennedy

Vivekananda Wall

Texas Railroad Commissioner 2 General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Christi Craddick	56.2%	4,336,499
	Democratic	Dale Henry	39.6%	3,057,733
	Libertarian	Vivekananda Wall	2.2%	173,001
	Green	Chris Kennedy	2%	153,664
Total Votes				7,720,897
Election Results via Texas Secretary of State.

Primary

May 29 Democratic primary candidates:

• Dale Henry a

May 29 GOP primary candidates:

Since no candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote getters faced off in a runoff election on July 31, which Craddick won.

• Primary Runoff

Texas Railroad Commissioner, Full Term, Primary Runoff, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Christi Craddick	59.8%	592,860
Warren Chisum	40.2%	398,421
Total Votes		991,281
Election Results Via: The Texas Secretary of State

• Primary

Texas Railroad Commissioner, Full term, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Christi Craddick	35.9%	421,610
Warren Chisum	27.2%	320,052
Becky Berger	12%	140,752
Joe Cotten	10.5%	123,137
Roland Sledge	9.9%	116,122
Beryl Burgess	4.6%	53,553
Total Votes		1,175,226
Election Results Via: The Texas Secretary of State

Green Party primary candidates:

• Chris Kennedy a

Libertarian primary candidates:

• Vivekananda Wall a
• Thomas Nance III

Note: The Libertarian nominee was determined at the party's state convention on June 9.

Polling

Republican Candidates for Texas Railroad Commission, District 2
Response	UT/TT internet survey May 7-13, 2012	Average
Christi Craddick	30%	30%
Warren Chisum	19%	19%
Joe Cotten	14%	14%
Becky Berger	13%	13%
Roland Sledge	10%	10%
Beryl Burgess	5%	5%
Number polled	800	800
Margin of error	+/-3.46	3.46%
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Incumbent Barry Smitherman (R) was elected on November 6, 2012. Smitherman was originally appointed to serve out the remaining two years of the term left by commissioner of Michael Williams, who resigned to run for Congress.

General

November 6 General election candidates:

Barry Smitherman Incumbent

Josh Wendel

Jaime Perez

Texas Railroad Commissioner 3 General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Barry Smitherman Incumbent	73.8%	4,537,625
	Libertarian	Jaime Perez	18.3%	1,127,074
	Green	Josh Wendel	7.9%	486,485
Total Votes				6,151,184
Election Results via Texas Secretary of State.

Primary

May 29 Democratic primary candidates:

• No candidates have filed.

May 29 GOP primary candidates:

Since no candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote getters faced off in a runoff election on July 31, which Smitherman won.

• Primary Runoff

Texas Railroad Commissioner, Unexpired term, Primary Runoff, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Barry Smitherman Incumbent	62.1%	583,506
Greg Parker	37.9%	355,480
Total Votes		938,986
Election Results Via: The Texas Secretary of State

• Primary

Texas Railroad Commissioner, Unexpired term, Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Barry Smitherman Incumbent	44.2%	497,100
Greg Parker	27.8%	311,903
Elizabeth Murphy-Kolb	21.5%	241,784
Al Lee	6.5%	72,867
Total Votes		1,123,654
Election Results Via: The Texas Secretary of State

Green Party primary candidates:

• Josh Wendel a

Libertarian primary candidates:

• Jaime Perez a

Polling

Republican Candidates for Texas Railroad Commission, District 3
Response	UT/TT internet survey May 7-13, 2012	Average
Greg Parker	33%	33%
Barry Smitherman	26%	26%
Elizabeth Murray-Kolb	25%	25%
Al Lee	8%	8%
Number polled	800	800
Margin of error	+/-3.46	3.46%
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Note: Due to court involvement with the state's redistricting process these dates may still change.

Deadline	Event
Dec 19, 2011	Last day during "first time period" for candidates to file
Feb 1	Last day during "second time period" for candidates to file
March 5	Last day to register to vote in primary
March 19-30	Early voting
May 29	Primary election
June 5	Primary runoff election (if necessary)
Sept 7	Deadline to register to vote in general election
Oct 22-Nov 2	Early voting
Nov 6	General election

See also

• Statewide elections, 2012
• State executive official elections, 2012

External links

Suggest a link

• Texas Elections
• Election Results, Secretary of State