Wayne Christian

Last updated

Lisa Lemoine
​
(m. 1975)​
Wayne Christian
Wayne Christian.jpg
Railroad Commissioner of Texas
Assumed office
January 3, 2017
Children3
Education Stephen F. Austin State University (BBA)

Walter Wayne Christian (born September 26, 1950) [1] [ failed verification ] is an American politician and financial planner from Center, Texas, who serves as a Republican member of the Texas Railroad Commission, [2] having first won the position in the general election of November 8, 2016.

Contents

In June 2019, Christian was elected commission chairman by his two colleagues, fellow Republicans Christi Craddick and Ryan Sitton. [3]

He formerly served in the Texas House of Representatives for District 9, which included Jasper, Nacogdoches, Sabine, San Augustine, and Shelby counties in East Texas. [4]

Background

Walter Wayne Christian [5] was born in Center but reared in nearby Tenaha. In 1975 he married the former Lisa Ruth Lemoine. The couple has three daughters: Liza, Lindsey, and Lauren. [6]

In the 1970s, Wayne was the leader of a successful Southern gospel band, The Singing Christians. [7] In 1979, Wayne and his bandmates created the Mercy River Boys. [8] They were twice nominated for a Grammy Award by the National Academy Of Recording Arts and Sciences. [9] Wayne Christian was inducted into the Texas Gospel Music Hall Of Fame in November 2015. [10]

Wayne Christian Financial Services office is near the Shelby County Courthouse in Center, Texas. Wayne Christian Financial Services, Center, TX IMG 4012.JPG
Wayne Christian Financial Services office is near the Shelby County Courthouse in Center, Texas.

Christian is an agent of Woodbury Financial Services. [11] He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, where he minored in marketing. [12]

Political life

Christian became a member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 9 on January 14, 1997. [13] He is a conservative Christian and opposed to abortion. He is the former president of the Texas Conservative Coalition, a bipartisan caucus of conservative legislators. He was also a board member of the Texas TEA Party Caucus. During his tenure in the legislature, Christian was heavily involved in energy and oil and gas issues, serving on the Energy Resources Committee and as Vice Chairman of the Regulated Industries Committee. [14] He also served as Vice Chairman of the Criminal Jurisprudence committee and on the Ways and Means Committee.

Throughout his years as a member of the Texas House, Christian received numerous awards for his conservative voting record. [15] [16] [17] [6]

The Texas Supreme Court has since sided with the private landowners in the area and upheld the private property protections put in place by Hamilton's amendment. [18]

Under the 2012 redistricting plan for the Texas House, Christian's home in Center was placed in a district in which approximately 80 percent of the constituents were new to him. He was one of several senior House Republicans who were either paired with other members of their party or relocated into largely new population districts. [19] [20]

Christian was unseated in the Republican primary held on May 29, 2012, by the Straus-endorsed Chris Paddie, 8,552 votes (47.8 percent) to 9,327 ballots (52.2 percent). [21]

Candidacy for Texas Railroad Commission

2014

Christian ran unsuccessfully for one of the three elected seats on the Texas Railroad Commission in the Republican runoff election held on May 27, 2014. [22] [23] [24] [25]

2016

In 2016, Christian became the Republican nominee for the commissioner spot held by David J. Porter, who did not seek re-election to a second term. In the Republican primary on March 1, Christian finished second among seven candidates with 408,629 votes (19.8 percent). Businessman Gary Gates of Richmond, Texas, led the balloting with 586,253 votes (28.4 percent). [26]

In December 2015, Christian temporarily suspended his campaign to care for his elderly mother but was soon back soliciting supporters. [27] He was endorsed by the political action committee, Texas Patriots Tea Party. [28]

Christian polled 4,648,841 votes (53.1 percent); Yarbrough, 3,362,041 (38.4 percent); Miller, 462,251 (5.3 percent), and Salinas, 287,105 (3.2 percent). [29] [30] [31]

Related Research Articles

Douglas Todd Staples is the former two-term Texas Commissioner of Agriculture. He unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2014.

Kenneth Kimberlin Brimer Jr., known as Kim Brimer, is a Republican former member of the Texas State Senate from Fort Worth, Texas. He represented District 10. He was the only GOP member of the 31-member chamber to have been defeated in the general election held on November 4, 2008, when he lost to Democrat Wendy R. Davis of Fort Worth, her party's 2014 nominee for governor against Republican Greg Abbott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Railroad Commission of Texas</span> State energy regulatory agency in Texas, USA

The Railroad Commission of Texas is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and surface coal and uranium mining. Despite its name, it ceased regulating railroads in 2005, when the last of the rail functions were transferred to the Texas Department of Transportation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry E. Patterson</span> American politician

Jerry Emmett Patterson is an American politician who served as the commissioner of the Texas General Land Office from 2003 to 2015. A former state senator, he was the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve as land commissioner, a post which he held for three terms. He served from the Houston area in District 11 in the Texas Senate from 1993 to 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kel Seliger</span> American politician

Kelton Gray Seliger, known as Kel Seliger, is a former Republican member of the Texas State Senate for District 31, which stretches from the Panhandle south to the Permian Basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Straus</span> American politician

Joseph Richard Straus III 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 County, including parts of San Antonio and several surrounding communities, from his first election to the House in 2005 until his retirement in 2019. He chose not to seek re-election to the state House in 2018.

Elizabeth Ames Jones is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Railroad Commission, the regulatory body over petroleum and natural gas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David J. Porter (politician)</span> American politician

David Jerome Porter is an American politician and accountant who served as a member of the Texas Railroad Commission from 2011 to 2017. Formerly in a private CPA practice in Midland, Porter since relocated to Giddings.

George Edward Lavender is an American state politician and a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives, having been first elected on November 2, 2010 and voted out of office in 2014 after only two terms. He has run for office seven times, including once as a Democrat, and has won twice. He was named as one of the least effective legislators in the entire State of Texas in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry T. Smitherman</span> American lawyer

Barry Thomas Smitherman is an American lawyer who served as a member and chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission from 2011 to 2015. A Republican, he was appointed to the commission on July 8, 2011 by then Governor Rick Perry to fill a vacant post; on February 28, 2012 he was elected chairman of the commission, which regulates not railroads but the Texas oil and gas industry.

James Edward "Jim" Nugent was an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Texas. His most recent position was from 1979 to 1995 as a member of the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the state's energy industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James White (Texas politician)</span> American politician, born 1964

James Earl White is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 19, which encompassed Polk, Hardin, Jasper, Newton, and Tyler counties. A member of the Republican Party, White was first elected in District 12 in 2010, which then included Angelina, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Tyler counties. He left office on August 11, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna Campbell</span> American physician and politician (born 1954)

Donna Sue Campbell is an American politician and physician who is the 25th District member of the Texas Senate. On July 31, 2012, she became the first person in Texas history to defeat an incumbent Republican senator, Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio, in a primary election.

Matthew R. Schaefer is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the Texas House of Representatives for the 6th district. A Republican, Schaefer is assigned to the Licensing and Administrative Procedures committee and the Public Education committee.

Travis Paul Clardy is an attorney from Nacogdoches, Texas, who is the Republican state representative for House District 11, which includes Cherokee, Nacogdoches, and Rusk counties in East Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christi Craddick</span> American politician

Christi Leigh Craddick is an American politician. She is one of three members of the Railroad Commission of Texas, the elected regulatory body over oil, natural gas, utilities, and surface mining first established in 1891. She is a Republican. The commission ended all controls over railroads in 2005 but is still known as the "Railroad Commission" for historical reasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Texas elections</span>

The 2014 general election was held in the U.S. state of Texas on November 4, 2014. All of Texas's executive officers were up for election as well as a United States Senate seat, and all of Texas's thirty-six seats in the United States House of Representatives. Primary elections were held on March 4, 2014. Primary runoffs, required if no candidate wins a majority of the vote, were held on May 27, 2014. Elections were also held for the Texas legislature and proposition 1, seeking funds for Texas highways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Stickland</span> Former Texas state legislator

Jonathan Spence Stickland is an American politician from Texas. A member of the Republican Party, he was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 92 for four terms, from 2013 to 2021. The district includes a portion of Tarrant County in suburban Fort Worth. He did not seek re-election in 2020.

Ryan Christopher Sitton is an American politician affiliated with the Republican Party. He was a member of the Texas Railroad Commission from 2015 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Texas elections</span> Elections in Texas

The 2022 Texas elections were held on November 8, 2022. Primary elections were held on March 1, with runoffs held on May 24 for primary candidates who did not receive a majority of the vote.

References

  1. ↑ "Legislative Reference Library - Legislators and Leaders - Member profile". lrl.texas.gov. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Railroad Commissioners Past through Present". www.rrc.texas.gov. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  3. ↑ Sergio Chapa (June 19, 2019). "Wayne Christian elected as Railroad Commission chairman". Houston Chronicle . Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Wayne Christian for State Representative". waynechristiancampaign.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Texas Legislators: Past & Present - Mobile". lrl.texas.gov. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  6. 1 2 "About Wayne Christian". waynechristiancampaign.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  7. ↑ "The Singing Christians". Uniqware.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Texas RRC - Chairman Wayne Christian". Rrc.state.tx.us. June 18, 2019. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  9. ↑ "The Honorable Wayne Christian - Texas State Directory Online". Txdirectory.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Texas Gospel Music Hall of Fame Inducts The Singing Christians/Mercy River Boys | Shelby County Today". Scttx.com. November 25, 2015. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Wayne Christian & Associates". waynechristian.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Wayne Christian". texastribune.org. Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Wayne Christian". Legislative Reference Library of Texas. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  14. ↑ "Texas Legislature Online - Committee Membership". capitol.texas.gov. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Rep. Wayne Christian Receives Endorsement From Texans For Fiscal Responsibility". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  16. ↑ Tribune, The Texas. "Commissioner Wayne Christian". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Rep. Christian Receives YCT 2011 Torch of Freedom Award". Young Conservatives of Texas. February 22, 2011. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Danny Yadron, "Post-Hurricane Ike amendment would let legislator rebuild," June 5, 2009". Austin American Statesman . Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  19. ↑ "A Word from James White". whiteforeasttexas.com. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Nacogdoches County Republicans Meeting Today, June 28, Tune in today and hear U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert". everythingnac.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Republican primary election returns, May 29, 2012". enr.sos.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on June 10, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
  22. ↑ "Texas Digest: Wayne Christian announces for railroad commissioner; feds nix Texas waiver to reduce tests for high-performing students". Austin American Statesman . September 9, 2013. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Republican primary election returns, March 4, 2014". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  24. ↑ "2012 Republican runoff election returns (House District 24)". elections.sos.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  25. ↑ "David Barer, "Railroad Commission primary: Brown wins Democratic side, Christian and Sitton heading to Republican runoff", March 4, 2014". Dallas Morning News . Archived from the original on March 8, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Republican primary returns". Texas Secretary of State. March 1, 2016. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  27. ↑ Malewitz, Jim (January 7, 2016). "After Brief Hiatus, Wayne Christian Resumes Run for Railroad Commission". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on November 14, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Endorsements: Railroad Commissioner". texaspatriotspac.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Election Returns". Texas Secretary of State. May 24, 2016. Archived from the original on June 9, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Wayne Christian, Grady Yarbrough advance to general election for Railroad Commission seat". bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  31. ↑ "General Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. November 8, 2016. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by
Jerry Johnson
 Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 9th district
1997–2005		Succeeded by
Roy Blake
Preceded by
Roy Blake
 Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 9th district
2007–2013		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Member of the Texas Railroad Commission
2017–present		Incumbent
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.