"GOP Climate Denier Prevails In Critical Texas Energy Regulator Race"

"The Texas Railroad Commission election was widely considered the most important down-ballot climate race of 2020."

"Jim Wright, a hardcore climate change denier and owner of an oil-field services company, is projected to win the race to be Texas’ next energy regulator, preserving the Republicans’ quarter-century hold on the Texas Railroad Commission and defeating a better-funded Democrat.

The race for the open slot on the three-seat commission ― which, despite its name, oversees the Lone Star State’s vast oil, gas and mining industries ― had been widely seen as Democrats’ best chance to win a statewide election there in nearly three decades.

Earlier this year, Wright defeated Ryan Sitton, the better-funded and respected Republican incumbent, in a surprise upset during the GOP primary. A relative unknown facing fines from the very commission he’ll now join ― as well as lawsuits accusing him of fraud ― Wright seemed like a prime target for Democratic challenger Chrysta Castañeda, an engineer and energy attorney who ran on curbing pollution that even big oil and gas giants support regulating."

Alexander C. Kaufman reports for HuffPost November 4, 2020.

Source: HuffPost, 11/05/2020