Dawn Buckingham

Dawn Buckingham

Republican Party

Texas Land Commissioner

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Prior offices

Texas State Senate District 24

---

Compensation

Base salary

$223,277

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

University of Texas, Austin, 1992

Medical

University of Texas Medical Branch, 1997

Personal

Profession

Physician

Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Dawn Buckingham (Republican Party) is the Texas Land Commissioner. She assumed office on January 1, 2023. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Buckingham (Republican Party) ran for election for Texas Land Commissioner. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Biography

Dawn Buckingham earned a B.S. in kinesiology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1992 and an M.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 1997. Buckingham's career experience includes working as a physician and owning a business.

Elections

2022

See also: Texas Public Lands Commissioner election, 2022

General election

General election for Texas Land Commissioner

Dawn Buckingham defeated Jay Kleberg, Alfred Molison, and Carrie Menger in the general election for Texas Land Commissioner on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dawn Buckingham (R)	56.2	4,463,452
		Jay Kleberg (D)	42.1	3,350,291
	Submit photo	Alfred Molison (G)	1.7	133,034
		Carrie Menger (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	1,812

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,948,589
= 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 runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for Texas Land Commissioner

Jay Kleberg defeated Sandragrace Martinez in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas Land Commissioner on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jay Kleberg	52.9	254,273
		Sandragrace Martinez	47.1	225,964

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 480,237
= 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 runoff election

Republican primary runoff for Texas Land Commissioner

Dawn Buckingham defeated Tim Westley in the Republican primary runoff for Texas Land Commissioner on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dawn Buckingham	68.8	595,554
		Tim Westley	31.2	270,365

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 865,919
= 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 Land Commissioner

Sandragrace Martinez and Jay Kleberg advanced to a runoff. They defeated Jinny Suh and Michael Lange in the Democratic primary for Texas Land Commissioner on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sandragrace Martinez	31.8	313,780
✔		Jay Kleberg	26.0	257,034
		Jinny Suh	21.9	216,238
		Michael Lange	20.2	199,764

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 986,816
= 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 Land Commissioner

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Texas Land Commissioner on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dawn Buckingham	41.9	679,125
✔		Tim Westley	14.8	239,473
		Jon Spiers	12.6	203,879
		Don Minton	10.6	171,001
		Victor Avila	7.5	121,998
		Weston Martinez	6.6	107,219
	Submit photo	Rufus Lopez	3.1	49,475
		Ben Armenta	3.0	48,029

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,620,199
= 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 Land Commissioner

Alfred Molison advanced from the Green convention for Texas Land Commissioner on April 9, 2022.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Alfred Molison (G)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= 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.

2020

See also: Texas State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Texas State Senate District 24

Incumbent Dawn Buckingham defeated Clayton Tucker in the general election for Texas State Senate District 24 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dawn Buckingham (R)	69.5	264,517
		Clayton Tucker (D)	30.5	115,853

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 380,370
= 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 State Senate District 24

Clayton Tucker advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 24 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Clayton Tucker	100.0	39,280

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 39,280
= 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 State Senate District 24

Incumbent Dawn Buckingham advanced from the Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 24 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dawn Buckingham	100.0	90,605

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 90,605
= 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.

2016

See also: Texas State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Texas State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on March 1, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was December 14, 2015. Incumbent Troy Fraser (R) did not seek re-election.

Dawn Buckingham defeated Jennie Lou Leeder in the Texas State Senate District 24 general election.

Texas State Senate, District 24 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Dawn Buckingham	72.39%	214,568
	Democratic	Jennie Lou Leeder	27.61%	81,836
Total Votes				296,404
Source: Texas Secretary of State

Dawn Buckingham defeated Susan King in the Texas State Senate, District 24 Republican primary runoff.

Texas State Senate, District 24 Republican Primary Runoff, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Dawn Buckingham	61.33%	26,466
	Republican	Susan King	38.67%	16,688
Total Votes				43,154

Jennie Lou Leeder ran unopposed in the Texas State Senate District 24 Democratic Primary.

Texas State Senate, District 24 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Jennie Lou Leeder  (unopposed)

The following candidates ran in the Texas State Senate District 24 Republican Primary.

Texas State Senate, District 24 Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Susan King	27.24%	32,512
	Republican	Dawn Buckingham	24.76%	29,553
	Republican	Jon Cobb	20.41%	24,361
	Republican	Brent Mayes	16.10%	19,216
	Republican	Reed Williams	7.01%	8,372
	Republican	Ryan Downton	4.48%	5,352
Total Votes				119,366

Endorsements

In 2016, Buckingham's endorsements included the following:

• Susan Combs - Former Comptroller, Agriculture Commissioner and State Representative
• Grassroots leader TJ Scott, President of the Central Texas Republican Assembly
• J.C. Mathiews, Area V Director of the Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts
• TX State Senator Don Huffines
• Joe McBride, owner of McBride’s Guns

• Jerry Patterson, former Land Commissioner and Texas State Senator
• Jim Powers, former Hays County Judge
• Rural Friends of Electric Cooperatives
• Bonny Cain, State Board of Educator Certification Chair
• Travis County precinct chairs, Bill Warmuth, Kevin Pakenham, and Mike Goldman

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Dawn Buckingham did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Buckingham's campaign website stated the following:

“	BANNING STATE INCOME TAX Dawn Buckingham passed a constitutional amendment permanently banning a state income tax. SECURING FUNDING FOR FLOOD MITIGATION To help communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey, Dawn Buckingham passed a constitutional amendment to provide funding for a statewide flood mitigation program. PRESERVING THE STATE’S HISTORIC STATUES Dawn Buckingham led the successful legal challenge to keep the City of San Antonio from moving the Alamo Cenotaph and passed legislation to preserve our state’s historic statues, markers, and monuments. SECURING THE BORDER As Texas Land Commissioner, Dawn Buckingham will work to finish construction of the Border Wall on all lands controlled by the state of Texas. As a state senator, Dawn supported $1.8 billion in funding to secure the border and led the fight to make it a felony for cities to enact 'sanctuary' policies in Texas. PRO-LIFE CHAMPION Dawn Buckingham is a pro-life champion and passed the Texas Heartbeat Act that bans abortions after a heartbeat is detected. ELECTION INTEGRITY Dawn Buckingham believes the greatest threat to the constitutional right to vote is voter fraud. Buckingham passed an election integrity bill that makes it easier to vote and harder to cheat.	”
—Dawn Buckingham's campaign website (2022)

2020

Dawn Buckingham did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2016

Buckingham's campaign website highlighted the following issues:

“	Border Security, Amnesty, and Sanctuary Cities: Texas doesn’t have to wait for the big-government politicians in Washington—we can act now. I support pressuring Governor Abbott to use his authority to seal the border with the Texas National Guard. Local Education: As a mother, providing my children with a quality education is a top priority. That’s why we need to empower parents in their children’s education, and spend more of our tax dollars in the classroom. Cut Spending & Taxes, Grow the Economy: While Texas has a competitive business environment relative to liberal states like California, we can do even better. Texas doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem. Reducing the size and scope of unnecessary government burdens like spending, taxes, and regulations will make Texas even more competitive and prosperous, and provide greater opportunity for working families. Patient-Centered Healthcare: As a doctor, I’ve seen our healthcare system from every angle, and I know we can do better. Simply put, we need to get rid of the meddling that comes between a doctor and her patient, and restore the balance of power between patients and the doctors they employ. Faith and Family: I am a Christian, a wife, a mother, a doctor, and pro-life. That’s why I believe we must do all we can to protect the innocent, precious lives of the unborn. I believe abortion should only be allowed in cases where it’s absolutely medically necessary, and taxpayers should not have to fund abortions.	”
—Dawn Buckingham

State legislative tenure

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Texas

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Texas scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].
In 2024, the Texas State Legislature was not in session.

2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].

In 2023, the Texas State Legislature was in session from January 10 to May 29. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility Legislators are scored based by the organization on their votes on bills relating to "core budget and free enterprise issues." Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills relating to taxes and property rights. Texas Right to Life Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues. Texas Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues. Texas Values Action Legislators are scored on their votes on social issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. The Institute for Legislative Analysis Legislators are scored on their adherence to the limited government principles of the U.S. Constitution.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].
In 2022, the Texas State Legislature was not in session.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the Texas State Legislature was in session from January 12 to May 31. Club for Growth Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Equality Texas Legislators are scored on bills related to LGBT issues. National Federation of Independent Business in Texas Legislators are scored on their votes on small business issues. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility Legislators are scored based by the organization on their votes on bills relating to "core budget and free enterprise issues." Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills relating to taxes and property rights. Texas Right to Life Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues. Texas Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues. Texas Values Action Legislators are scored on their votes on social issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2020

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show].
In 2020, the Texas State Legislature was not in session.

2019

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show].

In 2019, the Texas State Legislature was in its 86th legislative session from January 8 through May 27. Club for Growth Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Empower Texans Legislators are scored based by the organization on their votes on bills relating to "core budget and free enterprise issues." Environment Texas Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental and public health issues. Equality Texas Legislators are scored on bills related to LGBT issues. Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills relating to taxes and property rights. Texas Eagle Forum: House and Senate Legislators are scored based on votes relating to conservative issues. Texas Right to Life Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues. Texas Values Action Legislators are scored on their votes on social issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2018

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show].
In 2018, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session.

2017

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show].

In 2017, the Texas State Legislature was in its 85th legislative session from January 10 through May 29. A special session was held from July 18 to August 15. Conservative Roundtable Legislators are scored on their votes for or against the organization's position and principles. Empower Texans Legislators are scored based by the organization on their votes on bills relating to "core budget and free enterprise issues." Environment Texas Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental and public health issues. Equality Texas Legislators are scored on bills related to LGBT issues. National Federation of Independent Business in Texas Legislators are scored on their votes on small business issues. Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills relating to taxes and property rights. Texans for Vaccine Choice Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. Texas Alliance for Life Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues. Texas Association of Business Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to businesses, taxpayers, and families. Texas Right to Life Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues. Texas Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues. Texas Values Action Legislators are scored on their votes on social issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. Young Conservatives of Texas Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2016

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show].
In 2016, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session.

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2021-2022

Buckingham was assigned to the following committees:

• Administration Committee
• Finance Committee
• Health & Human Services Committee
• Nominations Committee, Chair

2019-2020

Buckingham was assigned to the following committees:

• Criminal Justice Committee
• Health & Human Services Committee
• Senate Higher Education Committee
• Nominations Committee, Chair

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Texas committee assignments, 2017
• Health & Human Services
• Higher Education
• Nominations
• Veteran Affairs & Border Security

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Texas Land Commissioner

Twitter

Instagram

Website

Facebook

Officeholder

Texas Land Commissioner

Website

Personal

Facebook

LinkedIn

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	Texas Land Commissioner 2023-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Texas State Senate District 24 2017-2023	Succeeded by -