Update: Most surprised by Carrillo loss in Railroad Commission primary

Ft. Worth Business Press—March 4th, 2010

The chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas, who has served in the oil and gas industry regulation agency for seven years, lost his bid for reelection in the Republican primary elections to precede the general election in November – what many industry representatives called a shock.

Chairman Victor G. Carrillo, one of three commissioners and the only one not seeking a U.S. Senate seat, lost to Midland accountant David Porter, who gathered about 61 percent of the 1.2 million votes cast in the Republican primary election. Carrillo has served in the commission since being appointed by Gov. Rick Perry in 2003 to fill his predecessor’s unexpired term. Carrillo was reelected in 2004.

Porter will go on to face Houston attorney Jeff Weems, the Democrat who was unopposed in his primary race.

In Tarrant County, Porter earned 57 percent of the 87,000 votes cast, while across the Barnett Shale’s core counties he received about 60 percent.

Prior to serving as a commissioner and then chairman, Carrillo served as a petroleum geophysicist, assistant city attorney, professor and judge. He is the highest-ranking Hispanic official in the state.

Porter has been an accountant since 1981, and runs his own firm in West Texas.

Anti-Hispanic bias?

Although Carrillo has been criticized by some North Texas groups as being too soft on the industry, and hesitant to regulate, it’s doubtful anti-drilling activists would support Porter over Carrillo, Barnett Shale veterans said.

The election result came as a surprise to many North Texans working in the oil and gas industry and Democratic challenger Weems.

“Had Victor’s opponent run a well-funded, well-publicized campaign, then maybe you could draw meaning from it, but he didn’t,” Weems said. Comparatively, Carrillo spent more than $600,000 on his reelection bid while Porter admits to spending about $50,000.

While Weems is hesitant to draw meaning, Carrillo will.

“Early polling showed that the typical GOP primary voter has very little info about the position of Railroad Commissioner, what we do, or who my opponent or I were,” Carrillo said in a statement following his loss. “Given the choice between ‘Porter’ and ‘Carrillo,’ unfortunately, the Hispanic surname was a serious setback from which I could never recover although I did all in my power to overcome this built-in bias.”

Texas Christian University’s Jim Riddlesperger, a professor of political science, said he doesn’t have a good explanation for the result, but isn’t inclined to disagree with Carrillo’s reasoning.

“Most of the people who voted didn’t know either candidate,” he said. “They didn’t know who the incumbent was and they didn’t know who the challenger was, and when you have that kind of thing, others vote based upon what? The name? So, is it a disadvantage in the Republican primary to have a Latino surname? I don’t know the answer to that question, but my guess is it’s not a completely random event.”

November: Porter vs. Weems

The Railroad Commission of Texas has primary regulatory jurisdiction over all oil and gas operations in the state. Porter is running on an anti-Washington, D.C., anti-President Barack Obama platform of less regulation. According his Web site, Porter wants to use his position on the Railroad Commission of Texas as a “bully pulpit” to combat the “economic war [declared] by the current administration on the Texas oil and gas industry.”

Come November, on the other ticket is energy attorney Jeff Weems, a partner at Harrison, Bettis, Staff, McFarland & Weems LLP and former oil rig worker. Weems aims to reduce consumers’ utility bills, clean up old or abandoned industry equipment, end favoritism of the industry over individuals and modernize regulation to fix “spotty and uneven” enforcement. Like Porter, Weems also says the position should be used as a bully pulpit, albeit for alternative energy resources and alternate uses of existing sources.

Porter says Weems “will deliver an Obama-like regulatory environment,” which Weems said “smacks of fairly expected and standard rhetoric that doesn’t have any true meaning or substance to it.”

Weems said he aims to “restore people’s faith in the integrity” of the commission, which he said has been poorly run by the current three commissioners.

“The Barnett Shale is ground-zero for the joys of expanded drilling and the positive economic benefits, but also the pressures that it puts upon the citizens and the environment,” he said. “There’s a balance that needs to be struck.”

Porter did not return calls for comment.