Chrysta Castaneda
Chrysta Castañeda (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Texas Railroad Commission. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Castañeda completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Castaneda ran unsuccessfully in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Texas' 33rd Congressional District.
Biography
Castaneda is an attorney practicing in the area of oil and gas litigation. She is the founding partner of The Castañeda Firm, an energy litigation firm in Dallas, Texas. The following is an outline of Castaneda's educational credentials, awards, and association memberships.
Education
- B.A. in industrial engineering, Kansas State University
- J.D., Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law
Awards and associations
- Products Liability Advisory Council, Sustaining Member 2003-2010
- Dallas Bar Association, Member – Judiciary, Bench Bar, Media Relations and Courthouse Committees
- Dallas Bar Foundation, Member
- Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
- Texas Women’s Foundation, Board of Directors
- Kansas State University School of Engineering, Advisory Board
- Texas Verdicts Hall of Fame, Texas Lawyer, 2019
- Women in Business Award, Dallas Business Journal, 2019
- Elite Trial Lawyers award, The National Law Journal, 2018
- Best Lawyers in Dallas, Commercial Litigation, D Magazine, 2018, 2019
- Awarded 12th Largest US Verdict in 2016, TopVerdict.com
- Awarded Largest Texas Breach of Contract Verdict in 2016, Texas Lawyer
- Awarded Texas Lawyer’s Women in Energy Award, The Texas Lawyer, 2016
- Ranked in Super Lawyers™, published by Thomson Reuters, 2012, 2018. 2019
Elections
2020
See also: Texas Railroad Commissioner election, 2020
General election
General election for Texas Railroad Commission
James Wright defeated Chrysta Castañeda, Matt Sterett, and Katija Gruene in the general election for Texas Railroad Commission on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | James Wright (R) | 53.0 | 5,831,263 |
 | Chrysta Castañeda (D)  | 43.6 | 4,792,422 | |
 | Matt Sterett (L) | 2.3 | 247,659 | |
| Katija Gruene (G) | 1.2 | 129,638 | ||
| Total votes: 11,000,982 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for Texas Railroad Commission
Chrysta Castañeda defeated Roberto Alonzo in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas Railroad Commission on July 14, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chrysta Castañeda | 62.0 | 579,698 |
 | Roberto Alonzo | 38.0 | 355,053 | |
| Total votes: 934,751 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas Railroad Commission
Chrysta Castañeda and Roberto Alonzo advanced to a runoff. They defeated Kelly Stone and Mark Watson in the Democratic primary for Texas Railroad Commission on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chrysta Castañeda | 33.8 | 598,638 |
| ✔ | | Roberto Alonzo | 28.7 | 506,748 |
 | Kelly Stone | 21.7 | 383,453 | |
 | Mark Watson | 15.8 | 279,911 | |
| Total votes: 1,768,750 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas Railroad Commission
James Wright defeated incumbent Ryan Sitton in the Republican primary for Texas Railroad Commission on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Wright | 55.3 | 991,593 |
 | Ryan Sitton | 44.7 | 801,904 | |
| Total votes: 1,793,497 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Green convention
Green convention for Texas Railroad Commission
Katija Gruene advanced from the Green convention for Texas Railroad Commission on April 18, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Katija Gruene (G) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for Texas Railroad Commission
Matt Sterett defeated Charlie Stevens in the Libertarian convention for Texas Railroad Commission on August 3, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Matt Sterett (L) |
 | Charlie Stevens (L) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
2012
Castaneda ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Texas' 33rd District. She was defeated by Domingo Garcia and Marc Veasey in the Democratic primary on May 29, 2012.[1][2]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
 Marc Veasey Incumbent |
36.8% | 6,938 |
| Domingo Garcia |
25% | 4,715 |
| Kathleen Hicks | 12.6% | 2,372 |
| David Alameel | 10.9% | 2,064 |
| Manuel Valdez | 4.7% | 884 |
| Steve Salazar | 2.6% | 482 |
| Chrysta Castaneda | 2.1% | 395 |
| Jason E. Roberts | 1.8% | 342 |
| Carlos Quintanilla | 1.5% | 286 |
| Kyev Tatum, Sr. | 1.1% | 201 |
| J. R. Molina | 1% | 189 |
| Total Votes | 18,868 | |
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Chrysta Castañeda completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Castañeda's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
The Railroad Commission is the regulator of the oil and gas industry, one of the largest drivers of the Texas economy. The current Railroad Commissioners are not enforcing existing laws on flaring, a wasteful practice that burns enough natural gas to power the City of Houston and causes harm to our environment and health. I have the expertise to get the Railroad Commission back on track.
- We need to stop wasting our natural resources and harming our environment by allowing the flaring of enough natural gas to power the City of Houston.
- We need to reduce methane emissions, which contribute to global warming.
- We need to reuse and reclaim the water that is used in oil and gas operations.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2012
Castaneda's campaign website listed the following issues:[3]
- Women's Healthcare
- Excerpt: "Women's healthcare is under attack in Texas and elsewhere. Millions of women obtain primary care through Planned Parenthood, but Texas and Congress are removing funding from these programs and providers. "
- Medicare/Social Security
- Excerpt: "The Ryan Budget passed by the Republican-controlled Congress preserves tax breaks for the wealthy but would end Medicare as it currently exists and threatens Social Security. This is wrong. Chrysta will preserve and strengthen these programs for those who rely on them."
- The Economy and Jobs
- Excerpt: "Chrysta will work to bring clean manufacturing jobs back to District 33, which has long been the home of top manufacturing firms. We no longer manufacture critical-care cancer drugs in the United States. We increasingly rely on foreign companies to produce them, potentially compromising the safety of the drug supply."
- Community Redevelopment
- Excerpt: "District 33 is at a crossroads of new development and change, which can enhance quality of life but has the potential to disrupt communities and displace current residents. Chrysta believes that we need to balance economic growth and development with the need to preserve the unique qualities of our neighborhoods as they exist."
- Equal Rights
- Excerpt: "Chrysta supports full equality for women, minorities and LGBT persons, including employment nondiscrimination, marital rights and medical consent. Chrysta will support legislation to end all forms of discrimination and bullying."
See also
2020 Elections
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Campaign website
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Facebook page
- Twitter feed
Footnotes
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