Three Important Statewide Races
Tiffany Bradfield, MBA, Director-at-Large, Governance | Published on 9/27/2026
Commissioner of the General Land Office -
The Land Commissioner heads the oldest agency in Texas, established in 1836 by the Republic of Texas Congress — it predates statehood. The General Land Office stewards roughly 13 million acres of state land, manages oil, gas, and mineral leases that generate revenue for the Permanent School Fund, safeguards the coastline, preserves historic sites like the Alamo, and allocates funding for disaster recovery. The office also leases surface and mineral rights on public land for commercial purposes.
Why it matters: Texans are impacted by this office in three ways. The first is public education — revenue from state lands flows into the Permanent School Fund, which helps fund Texas schools. The second is disaster recovery: the General Land Office is currently administering more than $14.3 billion in recovery and mitigation funding across eight different disasters. The third is public land management. The General Land Office is the state's largest landowner and an active lessor of public land for commercial use. Bexar County is now a focal point of the data center boom — more than 30 centers already built here, with at least 23 more on the way — and community concerns about power and water use, noise, and rising electricity bills have been raised.
Commissioner of Agriculture -
The commissioner heads the Texas Department of Agriculture, created in 1907 to promote production agriculture, protect consumers, and drive rural economic development. The department certifies the accuracy of scales and gas pumps, regulates everything from cattle to hemp, markets Texas products, runs school nutrition programs, and provides biosecurity and consumer protection — operating five regional offices, three laboratories, and five livestock export facilities across the state.
Why it matters: Whoever holds this office next will influence what Texas students are served at lunch, inspect weighing and measuring devices, and represent the interest of rural communities in Austin.
Railroad Commissioner -
Despite the name, this office has nothing to do with railroads. Instead, the Railroad Commission of Texas is the state's primary regulator of oil and natural gas, pipeline transporters, natural gas utilities, the LP-gas industry, and coal and uranium surface mining. Established in 1891, it is the oldest regulatory agency in the state, and it carries federal enforcement duties under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Pipeline Safety Acts, the Clean Water Act, and more.
Why it matters: This is the office regulating the industry that underpins the Texas economy — and the office with jurisdiction tied to oilfield waste, injection wells, and water contamination.
How These Agencies Affect Our Daily Lives -
At your kitchen table: The Agriculture Commissioner runs the school nutrition programs that feed millions of Texas students, certifies the scales at your grocery store and the accuracy of the gas pump you use every week.
In your water glass: The Railroad Commission holds jurisdiction connected to oilfield waste, injection wells, and groundwater protection under federal environmental law — the water beneath your home. And in Bexar County specifically, the General Land Office's role as the state's largest landowner and commercial lessor puts it in the middle of the data center boom, where water use is a public concern and transparency is critical.
In your child's classroom: The Permanent School Fund, fed by revenue from the 13 million acres the General Land Office stewards, helps fund Texas public education. The Agriculture Commissioner influences what those same students eat. Two offices, one school day.
In your community's recovery. The $14.3 billion the General Land Office is administering across eight disasters is not an abstract figure. Damage mitigation and rebuilding determine how neighborhoods recover after a storm.
In the ground and in the gas tank. The Railroad Commission regulates the oil and gas industry that shapes Texas' economy, tax base, and workforce.