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Christi Leigh Craddick (born July 1, 1970) is an American politician. She is one of three members of the
Railroad Commission of Texas The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC; also sometimes called the Texas Railroad Commission, TRC) is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and su ...
, the elected regulatory body over oil, natural gas, utilities, and surface mining first established in 1891. After winning re-election for Railroad Commissioner in 2024, Craddick announced in March 2025 her decision to run for Texas Comptroller in the upcoming 2026 election. She is a Republican. The commission ended all controls over railroads in 2005 but is still known as the "Railroad Commission" for historical reasons. A native of
Midland, Texas Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Midland County with small portions extending into Martin County. The population was 132,524 as of the 2020 census. Located in the Permian Basin in West Texas, Midland is a ...
, Craddick won her seat in the general election held on November 6, 2012.


Background

Craddick's father is
State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...
Tom Craddick, a Midland businessman who was the
Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives The speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is the speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Texas House of Representatives. The Speaker's main duties are to conduct meetings of the House, appoint committees, and enforce the Rules of the ...
from 2003 to 2009. Craddick has one daughter. She is
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
. Craddick graduated from Midland High School, obtained her undergraduate degree from the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
, and received her
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from the
University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Texas at Austin, a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas. According to Texas Law’s American Bar ...
. Christi Craddick and her father have ownership interests in hundreds of oil and gas leases in the state, with a value of over $20 million. Craddick receives royalties of more than $2 million per year for brokering extraction lease sales, which are potential conflicts of interest as she sits regulates the state's oil industry. Craddick has voted on the Commission on several issues affecting companies in which she has a financial interest. Texas does not have a law against Railroad Commission members deriving money from regulated companies.


Election as Railroad Commissioner


2012 primary

Craddick's path to victory surged in the Republican
runoff election The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
held on July 31, 2012, when she easily defeated then State Representative Warren Chisum of
Pampa The Pampas (; from Quechuan languages, Quechua 'plain'), also known as the Pampas Plain, are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentina, Argentine Provinces of Argentina, provinces of Buenos Aires Pro ...
in Gray County in the Texas Panhandle. Chisum is a former state legislative lieutenant of Tom Craddick. In that same election, most of the attention had focused not on the Craddick-Chisum race but on
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...
, who defeated
Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
David Dewhurst for the Republican nomination to succeed
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Kay Bailey Hutchison Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey; July 22, 1943) is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, diplomat, and was the 22nd United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2017 until 2021. A member of the Republic ...
. Craddick raised triple the campaign contributions of Chisum, more than $1 million compared to $375,000, but Chisum had access to another $600,000 that he had accumulated earlier as a legislator. Craddick enjoyed the support of such wealthy donors as the entrepreneur James R. Leininger of
San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
and the late homebuilder Bob J. Perry of
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. Craddick polled 589,211 votes (60 percent); Chisum, 396,858 ballots (40 percent).


2012 general election

Craddick thereafter defeated the Democratic nominee, Dale P. Henry (born 1930), a retired petroleum engineer from
Lampasas Lampasas ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lampasas County, Texas, United States. Its population was 7,291 at the 2020 census. Lampasas is part of the Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood metropolitan statistical area. History For his ...
in
Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas roughly bordered on the west by San Saba, to the southeast by Bryan- College Station, the south by San Marcos and to the north by Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part ...
. Craddick polled 4,336,499 votes (56 percent); Henry, 3,057,733 (40 percent). The remaining 4 percent was cast for two minor-party candidates. Craddick succeeded Elizabeth Ames Jones of San Antonio, who vacated the seat in February 2012. Jones ran for the District 25 seat in the
Texas State Senate The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives functioning as the lower house. Together, they form the state legislature of the state of Texas. The Senate is made up of 31 members, where eac ...
, which was ultimately won by the Republican physician Donna Campbell of New Braunfels, who unseated incumbent Senator
Jeff Wentworth Earl Jeffrey Wentworth (born November 20, 1940) is a Republican Party (United States), Republican former member of the Texas Senate from San Antonio, Texas, San Antonio. He represented Texas Senate, District 25, District 25 in the upper legislat ...
, a Moderate Republican from San Antonio, in the party runoff on July 31. Interim commissioner Buddy Garcia, an appointee of
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Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...
, stepped down several weeks after the 2012 general election, and Perry named Craddick to complete the few days remaining in Jones's term. Craddick's two Republican colleagues on the railroad commission were David J. Porter of Giddings in Lee County, formerly of Midland, and the former chairman, Barry Smitherman, formerly of Houston. Smitherman, elected to a two-year unexpired term in 2012, did not seek a full six-year term in 2014; he instead ran for Texas attorney general to succeed
Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott ( ; born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and jurist who has served since 2015 as the 48th governor of Texas. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2002 to ...
, but came in third place in the Republican primary. Since 1995, when veteran Democratic member James E. Nugent was unseated by Charles R. Matthews, all railroad commissioners have been Republicans. Both Craddick and Porter have ties to the oil-rich Permian Basin of Midland/
Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...
.


Political analysis

Mark Jones, a
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at
Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...
, attributed Craddick's victory over Chisum to the "respect" within the
GOP The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a right-wing political party in the United States. One of the two major parties, it emerged as the main rival of the then-dominant Democratic Party in the 1850s, and the tw ...
for her father. Tom Craddick is the longest-serving Republican legislator in Austin, having first been elected in 1968. He lost the Speakership in 2009 to
Joe Straus Joseph Richard Straus III (born September 1, 1959) is an American politician who served as the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019. A Republican, he represented District 121, which comprises northeastern Bexar Count ...
, a moderate Republican from San Antonio, who initially prevailed through a coalition of mostly Democrats and sixteen maverick Republicans. Former Midland Mayor Ernest Angelo, a one-time Texas Republican National Committeeman, said that Craddick succeeded because she gained credibility with large Republican donors and traveled by highway to meet with the
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...
and women's groups. According to Angelo, Tom Craddick's neighbor of many years, Christi Craddick "showed she will do what it takes to win a state primary. She earned it." From the start of her term as commissioner, Craddick has been critical of federal intervention into the energy industries: "Texas knows how energy regulation is done. People ought to be modeling themselves after us, instead of ... the EPA," she told an energy policy group in
Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
." In August 2014, she was elected chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission.


2018 reelection

On March 16, 2018, Craddick with nearly 76 percent of the vote defeated her Republican primary opponent, Weston Martinez of
San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
. She then defeated the Democrat Roman McAllen in the November 6 general election. Craddick polled 4,356,658 votes (53.2 percent) to McAllen's 3,588,625 ballots (43.9 percent). Another 236,720 votes (2.9 percent) went to the Libertarian Party nominee, Mike Wright.


Electoral history


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Craddick, Christi 1970 births Living people 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century Roman Catholics American politicians of Lebanese descent Businesspeople from Texas Catholic politicians from Texas Members of the Railroad Commission of Texas Midland High School (Midland, Texas) alumni People from Midland, Texas Politicians from Austin, Texas Texas lawyers Texas Republicans University of Texas School of Law alumni