Clearing Up Campaign Distortions

Grassroots America evaluates leadership based on governing performance — not campaign-season narratives.

We cannot investigate every single campaign lie, smear, or distortion, but the claims lodged against Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright (and the rest of the RRC) have been so outrageous, we went on a deep dive. Texas Oil & Gas energy dominance requires stability, competence, and technical rigor — not political volatility.

Political controversy is easy to manufacture.Facts require discipline. Campaign-season attacks rely on selective timelines, incomplete budget metrics, exaggerated claims, and mischaracterized policy authority.

This manufactured chaos is fueled by a growing and easily identifiable blood lust on the Right for monetized clicks, likes, and shares. Never mind if the spew is true, if it causes death threats from the Left, or destroys a reputation.

In case you didn’t know the facts, we offer the following for your consideration:

 Summary of Campaign‑Related Accusations Against Jim Wright 

Political candidates and other opponents highlight  that Jim Wright made political donations to Democratic candidates, framing this  as evidence that he is insufficiently aligned with Republican voters.  Truth is – you would be surprised at the number  of high-flying Republicans who do the same AND who fund big anti-taxpayer bond  elections around the state (violating the Republican Party of Texas Platform).  If this a measuring stick for Wright – it should be a standard for all. Should that include President  Trump? We think NOT! See what Trump has to say about his record of  giving to Democrats.

Wright’s contributions from 2009 – 2015 predate his 2020 election to the Texas Railroad Commission. We find no contributions since 2015 – ten years ago.  Wright says his past contributions were never about party loyalty; they were about “protecting the oil and gas industry and supporting people I trusted at the time. President Trump did the same thing for years. When you’re in business, you work with whoever is in power to protect jobs, keep regulations reasonable, and make sure American energy stays strong. That’s not political — that’s practical.”

Opponents use Wright’s business ties to oil‑field waste companiesas a campaign issue, suggesting he is too close to the industry he regulates.  In fact, public records show that Wright recused himself from a vote involving Eagleford Recycling LLC, a company to which he has financial ties. We could find no evidence that ethics charges have ever been filed against RR Commissioner Wright.

The Claim: The Railroad Commission spends nearly 45% of all spending on DEI. In FY 2023, RRC ranked 41st in the state in HUB spending, but in FY 2025, the RRC ranked 9th.

We find this claim to be false.  First, the RRC is compelled to follow the law until the law is changed OR the Governor issues a lawful executive order!  Governor Abbott’s Executive Order GA-55 was issued on January 31, 2025.

We received confirmation that the RRC’s new VetHub policies per the Governor’s EO GA-55 (adopted by the RRC per TAC title 34 part 1, chapter 20, subchapter D, and Government code title 10 subtitle D, chapter 2161, subchapter A) ensures the RRC aligns with the Governor’s recent “color blind” directive.  Link to the new VetHUB policy that state agencies use for compliance with EO GA-55: Veteran Heroes United in Business (VetHUB)

Further statistics proving the claim to be false:

The referenced report claiming DEI spending actually comes from the Comptroller’s office and only looks at an agency’s HUB-eligible expenditures, NOT its full budget. Keep in mind also that HUB – a state program – was just restructured in December 2025 by the Comptroller’s Office.  This means that all contracts BEFORE the restructuring had to comply with the State’s original HUB rules.

Using FY 2024 (before the Governor’s EO) as an example, the RRC’s operating budget was approximately $240 million.  Of that total, only $23.4 million was identified as HUB-eligible expenditures. Of that $23.4 million, the RRC spent $10 million (43% of eligible expenditures) on HUB contracts. 

When you consider the RRC’s FY 2024 budget of $240 million, only 4.1% went to legal HUBs.  (allegation overstates the figure by a factor of 10) In fact, less than 10% of the budget ($23.4 million) was even eligible for HUB spending. FY 2023 – $8,772,101 was spent in HUB-qualified spending, out of the $137,000,000 budget (9.31% of the overall budget). FY 2022 – $7,533,000 was spent in HUB-qualified spending, out of the $145,000,000 budget (11% of the overall budget).

This claim is wildly distorted and misleading!  

Fact:Our research reveals the only division at the RRC that regularly uses drones is the Surface Mining Division (coal and lignite mines).  All of their drones are compliant with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  These drones are quite expensive (15-20k per drone).

The Oil and Gas  Division has a total of 8 drones, which cost $3-5k per drone, and they are  Chinese built.  It is our understanding  that the vast majority of drones produced over the last decade have been  Chinese made.  That said, the RRC has  been given a waiver by the Governor’s Office to use those drones.  However, there is no legislation that allows  drones to be used in oil and gas inspection activities.  Therefore, the only time these particular  drones are used is in emergency situations.   There are other activities in which drones will be helpful in the  future, including looking for wellbores.

We spoke to Commissioner Wayne Christian directly about this.  He agreed that SB 17, which went into effect on 9/1/2025, grants authority to the Attorney General, not the Railroad Commission, to investigate and prosecute individuals or corporations that are violating SB 17. 

That being said, our research also indicates the cited companies and activities in the allegations were occurring well before SB 17 was enacted and became effective on 9/1/25.

Just because certain companies are “active” in Texas does not necessarily make it a violation. The prohibition is against real property ownership; not operations.  If the Texas Legislature believes these operations should be clawed back, they will need to figure out how to lawfully nullify existing contracts.

Additionally, if Texas is going to restrict foreign ownership of gas stations, that will need to be spelled out in the law, which  is a constitutional duty of the legislative branch.  The Railroad Commission cannot make law or  suspend law and it surely has no authority to nullify existing contracts or  pick and choose who can own gas stations.

Not true. First, a bill creating such a tax would need to be passed by the legislature and either signed into law by the Governor or allowed to become law without his signature.  Some are wrongly conflating this claim with a bill Sen. Hughes filed to charge a 20 cent fee on out of state water injected in Texas. The Hughes bill never got a hearing and there was no House companion.  The idea behind it was to stop states, like New Mexico, from unfairly dumping their produced water on Texas while having banned its disposal in their own state. The purpose is to protect Texas. The truth is—none of the Railroad Commissioners support a billion dollar tax on the oil and gas industry and we found no evidence they ever have.

To see Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright’s verified accomplishments and RRC Reforms in context, click here. Then, click on the “Statewide” button and scroll down to Jim Wright.

We hope this helps clear up some confusion.  It took many hours to investigate. Truth matters. You matter. Saving Texas matters.