{"id":477096,"date":"2026-10-26T12:18:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T12:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/477096\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T12:18:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T12:18:38","slug":"texas-railroad-commissioner-doesnt-regulate-railroads-heres-what-that-position-does","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/477096\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas railroad commissioner doesn’t regulate railroads. Here’s what that position does"},"content":{"rendered":"

Election Day <\/a>is just over a week away and early voting is well underway.<\/p>\n

One of the races you’ll be deciding is for the office of railroad commissioner. Do you know what this office actually does?<\/p>\n

Despite the name, the position doesn’t actually regulate railroads. This agency was established in 1891 to regulate the rail industry, but today, it regulates the state’s oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n

So, when you’re looking through your ballot, this is an office with a big role in Texas energy. Its responsibilities include oil and natural gas production, pipeline safety, and coal and uranium surface mining.<\/p>\n

Think about the rules companies have to follow when they drill for oil and gas and how the state enforces those rules.<\/p>\n

The commission has three members. One of those seats is on the ballot this year.<\/p>\n

As for who’s running, Bo French is the Republican candidate. He’s the former chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party.<\/p>\n

Jon Rosenthal is the Democratic candidate. He’s a state representative from the Houston area, currently serving his fourth term in the Texas House. And Libertarian Arthur Dibianca has run for other offices in the past.<\/p>\n

The winner will serve a six-year term.<\/p>\n

Early voting continues through Friday. Check KHOU.com\/Vote<\/a> for your sample ballot and locations. HarrisVotes.com<\/a> has current wait times.<\/p>\n

Got a news tip or story idea? Email us at newstips@khou.com<\/a> and tell us the best way to reach you, or call 713-521-4310.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Election Day is just over a week away and early voting is well underway. One of the races…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-477096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}