Craddick seeking Railroad Commission post
Not Tom. His daughter Christi. Rick Perry has a vacancy to fill, following the resignation of Michael Williams in April. (Williams, through his consultant, had previously insisted to me that he was unequivocally running for the U.S. Senate; he now has his sights set on one of the 17 or so new congressional districts in Travis County.) I’m told that a relative of Jose Aliseda is also a possibility. I have also heard that if Christi doesn’t get the appointment, she may run against whoever does get it.
Tagged: christi craddick, michael williams, railroad commission, tom craddick





Corbin Casteel says:
Paul,
I haven’t spoken to you in nearly 6 months. That was when you were insisting Williams was running for Texas Energy Commissioner, which I made clear, he was not.
Williams Congressional move is only a couple of weeks old at best. And he’s not running in Travis County. He’s running for CD33 in Tarrant County. Other than that, you’re right on.
I’ll never understand why you don’t seek me out to confirm statements before publishing. You have never once done so. I’m always available to take your call.
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Anonymous Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Quite right. I assumed wrongly that Williams would be running from an Austin district. (There are so many of them.)
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Anonymous says:
Has Christi ever set foot on a drilling rig?
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Governor Toolshed Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 3:36 pm
Has she ever drank water from a polluted aquifer that sits beneath a gas processing plant?
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Fiftycal Reply:
June 23rd, 2011 at 8:16 pm
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA Have you?
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Jed Reply:
June 24th, 2011 at 9:29 am
all of us have.
pay attention.
Crazy Uncle says:
I’ve done both. It’s great to be Qualified for RR comm.
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Sarah D. says:
“Daddy, can you buy me a statewide electoral office? Pretty please!”
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jpt51 Reply:
June 23rd, 2011 at 11:50 am
Perfect!
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Linda H. says:
I like Christi and she does work hard, but another person hoping to be appointed is Representative Warren Chisom.
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Anonymous says:
Chisum is constitutionally prohibited from being appointed to it. Art. 3 Sec. 18 Texas Constitution.
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linda h Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 6:00 pm
He is not running for representative again. If he resigns from his seat, he can be appointed
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Anonymous Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 6:23 pm
Nope, you’re are wrong Linda H. The constitution explicitly prohibits a member of the legislature from taking that kind of position during the term of office they were elected to. Whether or not Chisum resigns, he was still elected to that term of office.
Elizabeth Ames Jones got around it by resigning and not taking her new oath as a state rep during the period between the end of December and the beginning of the 79th Legislative session that the constitutions makes the exception for. If Chisum was going to be appointed to the RRC he had to resign before he took his oath of office for the 82nd Legislature. Alas, he did not.
Furthermore, the Attorney General disagrees with you. Read Greg Abbott’s opinion from 12-23-2002 Opinion No. GA-0006. Chisum resigning now does not solve the problem.
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Anon Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 11:31 pm
Would the appointment require senate confirmation? If not, does the Constitutional prohibition since the Abbott opinion seems to only discuss that scenario.
Anon Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 11:32 pm
Meant to say – does the prohibition apply?
Anonymous says:
Jose Aliseda would have made a great Railroad Commissioner, but like Chisum, he’s constitutionally prohibited from being appointed. Paul, my guess is that you are talking about Ernie Aliseda, Rep. Aliseda’s brother, who was previously appointed as a district judge in the Rio Grande Valley. Like his brother, he too is a strong conservative and would be another great appointment. Perry would be smart to appoint a good, qualified Hispanic, which would help the Repubs get a statewide Hispanic office holder other than those on the Supreme Court. And hopefully it won’t be another Hispanic from Houston — god knows there are Hispanic Republicans elsewhere in the state.
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Jed Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 9:18 pm
they (you) had one (a “good, qualified hispanic” in statewide office). on the RR commission, no less. you voted him out.
are you suggesting that perry is smarter than his base?
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Permian Mojo says:
Cristi Craddick is single handedly one of the most unpleasant people you will ever meet. The word that come to mind rhymes with witch. It is hard to imagine her running successfully for any public office, much less statewide office.
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Anonymous Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Readers are free to express their opinions, within reason. This comes close to being not within reason. I have repeatedly stated that a rule of this blog is to avoid gratuitous personal comments about people in politics.
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Jed Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 9:19 pm
don’t see how it is gratuitous.
seems relevant.
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Revere Reply:
June 23rd, 2011 at 8:21 am
Wasn’t Christi the one who ran her dad’s PAC that funneled money to Democrats, including folks like the felon Kino Flores? I recall her putting in writing something about the money transfers that looked really bad. Bet it resurfaces if she runs for RRC. Doubt that will play well with R primary voters.
Revere Reply:
June 23rd, 2011 at 8:25 am
http://www.burntorangereport.com/tag/Christi%20Craddick
Jed Reply:
June 23rd, 2011 at 8:57 am
will it help that one of the three was pena?
Jim Nugent says:
Wasn’t Jim Nugent appointed to the Railroad Commission from the Texas House?
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Anonymous Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Nugent was, but it was the same kinda of situation as with EAJ. He either wasn’t relected and it was at the end of his term between the end of December and the beginning of the next legislative session or he resigned his seat in the House before taking the oath for the next legislative session. Either way he would have been exempt from that constitutional provision.
Nugent joined the RRC on Jan 4, 1979 thus putting him within the constitutional window allowed for sitting legislators.
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IHearYA says:
Corbin — If it makes you feel better, he doesn’t call me either.
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Briscoe Democrat says:
Burka, did the bill reducing the Railroad Commission to 1 commissioner FAIL in the House since it passed in the Senate ?
I would assume Perry is either for it or against it.
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Mary Ryan says:
I agree that the daughter Craddick,um, campaign for the statewide office is a …
Complete Joke!
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Softie McGillicuddy says:
They should call this blog, “old, often out of touch rumors” dot com.
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Anonymous says:
If Christi runs her campaign like she did Stars Over Texas in ’06 and ’08, you can plan on her holding on to all of the money and then sending herself a check for $100,000 the day before the race with a note that says, “Hope this helps.”
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Jed says:
will it have a heart over the “i”?
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Briscoe Democrat says:
Jed, speaking of anyone who’s interested in 2014 politics, but Dewhurst says he will make a decision on whether he’s seeking the Governor’s Mansion (likely Perry NOT running for 4th term in ’14) in 2014 or KBH’s US Senate seat next year.
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Anonymous says:
What an unqualified joke. Seriously, with all the recent oil and gas activity that has blessing or state, we need someone in there that understands a little science. A shame about Victor Carrillo.
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Anonymous says:
The Conservatives really let Victor Carrillo down. He was a good member and is missed
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
June 24th, 2011 at 9:04 pm
“The Conservatives really let Victor Carrillo down”
Maybe Victor ran a poor campaign and lost. When I do poorly I blame myself, instead of acting like a victim. Democrats will never understand that.
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Jed Reply:
June 24th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
you think that’s why he lost?
david porter ran a superior campaign?
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
June 25th, 2011 at 6:44 am
@Jed
I love it when dems say “the voters were too stupid to vote for _______”
Jed Reply:
June 25th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
is that what i said?
John Johnson says:
Wouldn’t be refreshing to have a qualified, independent person heading up things in the Railroad Commissioner’s office? How about at Insurance, TxDot and the Public Utility Commission, as well?
The King doesn’t seem to want to surround himself with strong people in his court…just “yes” people who will do his, and the industries they are charged with overseeing’s wishes and demands.
The King has one thing right …our state truly is a special haven for Big Business and he allows them to overcharge us for almost everything.
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Governor Toolshed Reply:
June 25th, 2011 at 1:39 am
All this talk about qualifications makes it sound as if the RRC actually does something in the public interest. How many qualifications does it take to do whatever Big Oil & Gas tells you to do? Is there a higher degree in Sycophantry?
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Anonymous says:
Porter didn’t run a good campaign. He just capitalized off an anglo name. The end.
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Jed says:
i think putting it that way gives him too much credit.
he was just there when the dust cleared, is more like it.
now, what caused the dust, jbb?
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tooManyOfEm says:
Porter beat carrillo because when push comes to shove, an anglo name will beat a mexican name hands down anytime in a republican primary. Be sure and give senor larry gonzales a heads up, and also senore jose aliseda…
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Briscoe Democrat Reply:
June 27th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
At least Eva Guzman is still on the TX Supreme Court and she’s Latina.
Who’s going to run for AG to replace Abbott in 2014 ?
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Anonymous says:
Victor Carillo was the first Member of the Commission in a long time that showed any concern for the employees. He is a good and Honorable man. He was unable to campaign due to health issues (which he would not use for sympathy votes like a lot would),which have since been resolved.
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Anonymous says:
What about Greg Parker!
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Commissioner-Parker-Considering-a-Texas-Railroad-Commission-Run.html?soid=1105372833939&aid=QfBCHyoCfJE
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Anonymous says:
Parker is qualified, conservative and not beholden to Midland, TX!
http://www.co.comal.tx.us/Parker2/energy.asp
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Kevin K says:
Burka — looks like you were right about Michael Williams running in Travis County.
Another Casteel fail.
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