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Texas state executive official elections, 2012
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| Texas Railroad Commission |
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May 29, 2012 |
November 6, 2012 |
| State executive official elections in 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.[1]
Despite its name, the commission regulates oil and gas industries, pipeline and liquefied petroleum gas safety, and surface mining—not railroads.[2]
Railroad Commissioner 2
Incumbent Buddy Garcia (R) did not seek re-election. He was appointed to the position 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.[3]
The winner, Christi Craddick (R), was elected to a six-year term on the commission.[4]
General
November 6 General election candidates:
| 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:
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.[5]
- 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:
Libertarian primary candidates:
Note: The Libertarian nominee was determined at the party's state convention on June 9.[6]
Polling
| Republican Candidates for Texas Railroad Commission, District 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Christi Craddick | Warren Chisum | Joe Cotten | Becky Berger | Roland Sledge | Beryl Burgess | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||
| UT/TT internet survey May 7-13, 2012 | 30% | 19% | 14% | 13% | 10% | 5% | +/-3.46 | 800 | |||||||||||
| 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. | |||||||||||||||||||
Railroad Commissioner 3
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 Michael Williams, who resigned to run for Congress.[4]
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.[7]
- 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:
- Libertarian primary candidates:
Polling
| Republican Candidates for Texas Railroad Commission, District 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Greg Parker | Barry Smitherman | Elizabeth Murray-Kolb | Al Lee | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| UT/TT internet survey May 7-13, 2012 | 33% | 26% | 25% | 8% | +/-3.46 | 800 | |||||||||||||
| 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. | |||||||||||||||||||
Key deadlines
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
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State: Election night results, accessed May 29, 2012
- ↑ Texas Railroad Commission, "About RRC," accessed May 29, 2012
- ↑ CBS Dallas/Fort Worth, "Perry Appoints Garcia To Texas Railroad Commission," April 13, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Amarillo Globe News, "Poll: Craddick, Parker lead Railroad Commission races," May 28, 2012
- ↑ Houston Chronicle, "2 Railroad Commission seats headed toward runoffs," May 30, 2012
- ↑ Libertarian Party of Texas, "2012 candidate listings," accessed May 30, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Houston Chronicle, "2 Railroad Commission seats headed toward runoffs," May 30, 2012
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