State

Railroad Commissioner

Vote for: 1
Term: 6 years
Candidates: 3
Election: Nov 3, 2026

What this office does: The three-member Railroad Commission regulates Texas's oil and natural gas industry, pipelines, natural gas utilities and coal and uranium surface mining (it no longer oversees railroads); one seat is on the ballot every two years.

Candidates Compare by issue

Bo French

Republican

The gist

Pledges to streamline regulation to lower energy production costs.
Pledges to plug more abandoned wells.
Supports tailoring rules to operator size and region.
Opposes taxpayer-funded incentives for renewable energy projects.
Pledges to work with industry on oilfield water use.

More about Bo

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Pledges to streamline regulation to lower energy production costs.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“fix administrative inefficiencies and overly-broad regulation to allow operators to produce energy at a more affordable cost to consumers”
Pledges to plug more abandoned wells.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“while protecting landowners and plugging more abandoned wells”
Supports tailoring rules to operator size and region.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“rather than using blanket rules that apply the same to operators of various sizes in different environments”
Opposes taxpayer-funded incentives for renewable energy projects.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“I believe these projects should be economic on their own without taxpayer-funded incentives.”
Pledges to work with industry on oilfield water use.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“I will work with the best oil industry experts to help find innovative solutions to water use.”

Jon Rosenthal

Democratic

The gist

Supports more Railroad Commission enforcement funding.
Supports faster permits for compliant operators, heavy fines for violators.
Supports ending routine flaring and stronger setback standards.
Supports more funding for well plugging and cleanup.
Supports an all-of-the-above energy approach including renewables.

More about Jon

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Supports more Railroad Commission enforcement funding.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“I'll advocate for increased funding to enforce existing requirements and be more responsive to communities.”
Supports faster permits for compliant operators, heavy fines for violators.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“We should streamline permits for good actors and impose serious fines on egregious violators.”
Supports ending routine flaring and stronger setback standards.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“end routine flaring, weatherize natural gas facilities, implement stronger setback standards”
Supports more funding for well plugging and cleanup.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“I'll advocate for funding to turbocharge well plugging and environmental cleanup.”
Supports an all-of-the-above energy approach including renewables.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“I support an all-of-the-above approach to energy production in Texas.”

Arthur DiBianca

Libertarian

The gist

Supports putting landowner property rights over industry interests.
Supports more transparency to avoid regulatory capture.
Proposes simplifying a century of commission regulations.
Supports restitution for earthquake and wastewater damage.
Opposes government favoring any form of energy.

More about Arthur

View sources (1)

Supports putting landowner property rights over industry interests.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“make sure that property rights always have priority over industry interests”
Supports more transparency to avoid regulatory capture.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“We need much better transparency, and avoid "regulatory capture".”
Proposes simplifying a century of commission regulations.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“Simplify and clean up 100 years of regulations.”
Supports restitution for earthquake and wastewater damage.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“Restitution should be readily available in cases of property damage from earthquakes, wastewater leaks, etc.”
Opposes government favoring any form of energy.
Q&A: Get to know 3 candidates for Texas railroad commissioner
Candidate questionnaire · Community Impact · communityimpact.com
“Our government and regulators should not favor one form over another.”

Challengers are listed first and incumbents last; otherwise candidates appear in ballot order. The Gist does not rank, rate or endorse candidates. Only positions backed by a cited source are shown; 4 issues covered in this race.