Warren Chisum

Warren Chisum
Texas State House, District 88
Former Officeholder
In office
1989 - 2013
Party	Republican
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 2, 2010
First elected	1988
Term limits	N/A

Warren Chisum is a former Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 88 from 1989 to 2013.

He announced in May 2011 that he would be retiring at the end of his current term. Looking back on a long career, Chisum reflected: "It's been my lifestyle for 20-plus years. It's not an easy decision to make, but sometimes it's time to go.

Chisum is the Owner of Basic Petroleum Incorporated, and Omega Energy. He previously owned J.T. Richardson Trucking, Archie's Truck Service, Chisum Cattle Ranch, and Wolf Creek Exploration.

Chisum is the President of the American Legislative Exchange Council, and is a member of the Clarendon College-Pampa Center Board of Advisors, Gray County Christian Coalition, National Conference of State Legislatures, Pampa Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite Dormitory Board of Directors - University of Texas, Texas Conservative Coalition, and Wayland Baptist University Board of Directors.

Committee assignments

2011-2012

Warren Chisum served on the following Texas House of Representatives committees:

• Appropriations Committee
• Environmental Regulation Committee
• Appropriations - S/C on Article II, Select Committee
• Appropriations - S/C on Current Fiscal Condition, Select Committee

Issues

Sponsored legislation

• HB 480 - Relating to marriage education courses for certain couples filing for divorce on the grounds of insupportability.
• HB 1467 - Relating to the purchase or lease by state agencies of vehicles using alternative fuels.
• HB 1796 - Relating to the development of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration in this state.
• HB 2872 - Relating to the establishment by the State Soil and Water Conservation Board of a carbon dioxide sequestration or emissions offset program.

Elections

2012

See also: Texas down ballot state executive elections, 2012

Chisum ran for Texas Railroad Commission in 2012. He faced Beryl Burgess, Joe Cotten, Christi Craddick, Roland Sledge and Becky Berger in the May 29 Republican Primary. Since no candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote getters - Chisum and Craddick - faced off in a runoff election on July 31. Chisum lost that election to Craddick.

• 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

Incumbent Buddy Garcia (R) was appointed to serve in the seat until the general election and is not running for election.

2010

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2010

Chisum won re-election unopposed in District 88 in 2010. He was unopposed in the March 2 Republican primary and faced no opposition in the November 2 general election.

Texas House of Representatives, District 88 2010 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Warren Chisum (R)		25,263	100%

2008

On November 4, 2008, Chisum won re-election to the Texas House of Representatives from Texas's 88th District. Chisum ran unopposed in the general election, and he received 41,053 votes. Chisum raised $387,226 for his campaign.

2011 speaker race

Chisum and Ken Paxton of District 70 both challenged incumbent speaker Joe Straus for the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives by calling his conservative principles into question and promising leadership that more closely reflected the conservative Republican majority. Straus was elected Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives for a second term at the start of the 82nd legislative session on January 11, 2010 in a 132-15 vote. The lead up to the speaker vote was a hot and heavily covered political issue in Texas, but finished anticlimactically. While the rhetoric remained high amongst conservative activists and a handful of representatives right until the vote, both Chisum and Paxton dropped out of the race prior to the formal vote after it was overwhelmingly apparent Straus would keep his speaker seat.

Campaign donors

2010

In 2010, Chisum received $143,025 in campaign donations. The top contributors are listed below.

Texas House of Representatives 2010 election - Campaign Contributions
Top contributors to Warren Chisum's campaign in 2010
Texas Association Of Realtors	$5,000
Union Pacific Corp	$5,000
Spectra Energy	$3,500
American Electric Power	$3,500
Bank Of America	$3,000
Total Raised in 2010	$143,025

2008

Below are Chisum's top 5 campaign contributors in the 2008 election:

Contributor	2008 total
Texas Assoc of Realtors	$12,500
Valero Energy	$8,000
Union Pacific Railroad	$7,500
Texas Health Care Assoc	$7,500
Texas Medical Assoc	$7,000

Scorecards

Empower Texans Fiscal Responsibility Index

Empower Texans produces the Fiscal Responsibility Index as "a measurement of how lawmakers perform on size and role of government issues." The index uses "exemplar votes on core budget and free enterprise issues that demonstrate legislators' governing philosophy." Legislators are graded along a standard grading scale, receiving grades A through F based on their performance during the legislative session.

2011

Warren Chisum received a grade of C+ on the 2011 Fiscal Responsibility Index.

External links

Suggest a link

• Official campaign website
• Texas House of Representatives - Rep. Chisum
• Biography from Project Vote Smart
• Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
• Campaign Contributions: 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 1998
• Freedom Speaks profile
• Texas State Directory profile
• Texas Political Almanac HD 88 page
• Texas Tribune profile & bio
• Vote-TX.org profile
• State Surge profile
• Texas Conservative Coalition profile
• "Warren Chisum - the Parody Page" opposition website

References

Political offices
Preceded by '	Texas House District 88 1989–2013	Succeeded by Ken King (R)