Barry Thomas Smitherman (born September 13, 1957) is an American
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
who served as a member and chairman of the
Texas Railroad Commission
The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC; also sometimes called the Texas Railroad Commission, TRC) is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and su ...
from 2011 to 2015. A
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, he was appointed to the commission on July 8, 2011 by then
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Rick Perry
James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...
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
The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest ...
.
In 2013, Smitherman announced his candidacy to succeed
Greg Abbott
Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 50th Tex ...
as
state attorney general
The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the federal district, or of any of the territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney genera ...
in the Republican
primary election
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
held on March 4, 2014, when Abbott polled 91.5 percent of the ballots cast to win the party's nomination for
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
to succeed the retiring Rick Perry, who declined to seek a fourth full term. Smitherman's opponents were
State Senator
A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
Description
A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...
Ken Paxton
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015. Paxton has described himself as a Tea Party conservative.
Paxton was re-elected to a th ...
of
McKinney
McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano, Texas, Plano and Frisco, Texas, Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about north of Dallas.
...
in
Collin County and
State Representative
A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.
Two federations literally use the term "state legislature":
* The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...
Dan Branch
Dan H. Branch (born March 5, 1958) is an American politician who served as the Texas State Representative for the 108th district from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he represented part of Dallas.[Dallas County Dallas County may refer to:
Places in the USA:
* Dallas County, Alabama, founded in 1818, the first county in the United States by that name
* Dallas County, Arkansas
* Dallas County, Iowa
* Dallas County, Missouri
* Dallas County, Texas, the nin ...]
.
Smitherman finished in third place with 281,064 votes (22.1 percent) in the primary race for attorney general.
[
]
Background
Smitherman was reared in Highlands
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
*Sou ...
in Harris County on the east side of Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. He graduated from Ross S. Sterling High School in Baytown Baytown may refer to:
* Baytown, Texas, a city in the United States near Houston, Texas
*Baytown culture, an archaeological culture in the United States
*Operation Baytown
Operation Baytown was an Allied amphibious landing on the mainland o ...
, Texas. He then received a Bachelor of Business Administration
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...
summa cum laude from Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
at College Station. Thereafter, he obtained his Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from the University of Texas School of Law
The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...
in Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, while he worked at the state capitol for a state senator
A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
Description
A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...
, Lindon Williams, a Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
. Smitherman further received a Master of Public Administration
The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...
degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
at Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. There he was awarded the first Joel Leff Fellowship in Political Economy.
Smitherman began a career in banking, where he held leadership positions for First Boston, Lazard, and J.P. Morgan Securities, and eventually rose to become the head of Bank One
Bank One Corporation was an American bank founded in 1968 and at its peak the sixth-largest bank in the United States. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol ONE. The company merged with JPMorgan Chase & Co. on July 1, 2 ...
's national municipal finance group before he was fired in April 2002. Bank One's stated reason for the termination was that Smitherman had failed to get company approval before he co-authored an opinion column in the ''Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
'' with two conservative Houston city council members, in which the authors discussed how the city could improve its credit rating. In January 2003, Smitherman became a prosecutor
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...
in the Harris County District Attorney’s office,[Elizabeth Albanese,]
Texas Gov. Perry Names Smitherman for PUC.
''The Bond Buyer
''The Bond Buyer'' is a century-old daily national trade newspaper based in New York City and focused on covering the municipal bond industry. It is published Monday through Friday, except holidays. The newspaper is printed on tabloid-sized pap ...
'', April 26, 2004. and in May 2003 Perry named him to the board of the Texas Public Finance Authority.
In April 2004, Governor Perry named Smitherman to the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC). He became the chairman of that body in November 2007.
In 2004, Smitherman published the book ''If Jesus Were an Investment Banker (or Any Other Type of Modern Businessman): Leadership Principles from the Messiah and Personal Reflections of an Investment Banker Striving to Be a Christian''.
Railroad Commission
After seven years at the PUC, where Smitherman was seen as an advocate of deregulation
Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...
, he left in July 2011 when Perry appointed him to the Railroad Commission to fill the position vacated by Republican Michael L. Williams
Michael Lawrence Williams (born May 31, 1953) is an American educator and attorney who is the former Education Commissioner of the U.S. state of Texas, in which capacity he was leader of the Texas Education Agency. Williams was appointed to th ...
, an unsuccessful candidate in 2012 for the United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
. Smitherman was elected as chairman of the commission on February 28, 2012 after Elizabeth Ames Jones
Elizabeth Ames Jones (born October 29, 1956) is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Railroad Commission, the regulatory body over petroleum and natural gas.
From 2000 to 2005, Jones held the District 121 seat from ...
departed to run for the state senate
A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...
.
In February 2013, Smitherman apologized for retweeting a list of 16 Republican US senators who voted to allow debate on gun control legislation accompanied by an image of a noose and the word "TREASON." Later that year, Smitherman complained to his daughter's school teacher for using curricular material provided by the Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...
(SLPC) to study the novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird
''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...
''. Smitherman characterized what he felt to be the "radical view of racism, hate, and intolerance" held by the SLPC, and he defended a number of organizations such as the Jewish Defense League
The Jewish Defense League (JDL) is a Jewish far-right religious-political organization in the United States and Canada, whose stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary". It has been classified as "a right w ...
, the Border Guardians, and Crusaders for Yahweh. Smitherman noted, "Equally disturbing, the SPLC calls out groups like 'We the People', 'patriots', The ' Constitution Party,' and ' oath keepers' as groups which subscribe to unfounded conspiracy theories and are 'opposed to one world order'."
Smitherman's term expired in January 2015. He was succeeded by Ryan Sitton
Ryan Christopher Sitton (born 1975) is an American politician affiliated with the Republican Party. He was a member of the Texas Railroad Commission from 2015 to 2021.
Personal life and education
Sitton was raised in Irving, Texas with his thr ...
of Friendswood, who serves with two other Republicans, David J. Porter of Lee County, who unseated former commissioner Victor G. Carrillo
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to:
* Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film
* ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
in the Republican primary in 2010 but is retiring effective January 2017, and Christi Craddick
Christi Leigh Craddick (born July 1, 1970) 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. Sh ...
of Austin, who was elected in 2012 to fill the seat formerly held by Elizabeth Ames Jones but occupied in the preceding interim months by Buddy Garcia
Hector Steven Garcia, known as H. S. "Buddy" Garcia (born June 16, 1967), is a former interim member of the Texas Railroad Commission, the elected body which regulates the oil and natural gas industries in Texas. Garcia was appointed to the commis ...
of Austin.
2012 election
In 2012, Smitherman was the Republican nominee for the two years remaining in Williams' unexpired term on the Railroad Commission. In the July 31, 2012 runoff election
The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...
, Smitherman defeated his fellow conservative Greg Parker, a county commissioner in Comal County
Comal County ( ) is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 161,501. Comal County is known for its rich German-Texan and European history. Its county seat is New Braunfels.
...
. Smitherman led with 583,022 votes (62.1 percent) to Parker's 355,245 (37.9 percent). In the first primary, Smitherman had led Parker, 44 to 28 percent but failed to win the required outright majority for nomination.
In the November 6 general election, Smitherman was elected with 4,537,625 votes (73.76%) to 1,127,074 votes (18.32%) for Libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
Jaime Perez and 486,485 votes (7.90%) for Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
candidate Josh Wendel; no Democrat ran for the post. Shortly after his election, he stated his support for the Sunset Advisory Commission
The Sunset Advisory Commission is an agency of the Texas Legislature that evaluates state agencies and makes recommendations to the legislature on the need for, performance of, and improvements to agencies under review. The commission is headquar ...
recommendation to rename the Railroad Commission to more accurately reflect its current functions.[Elizabeth Trovall]
"Your Guide to the Sunset Advisory Report on the Texas Railroad Commission"
StateImpact Texas/NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, November 26, 2012.
In the May 27, 2014 runoff election, to choose a nominee to succeed Smitherman, Ryan Sitton defeated Wayne Christian
Walter Wayne Christian (born September 26, 1950) is an American politician and financial planner from Center, Texas, who serves as a Republican member of the Texas Railroad Commission, having first won the position in the general election of Nov ...
, who had been the high votegetter in the primary but held his exact same percent in the runoff and therefore lost to Sitton, an oil and gas engineer from Friendswood. Sitton also lost the District 24 legislative primary in 2012 to fellow Republican Greg Bonnen
James Gregory Bonnen (born June 18, 1966) is an American politician. He served as a Republican member for the 24th district of the Texas House of Representatives.
Bonnen was born in Angleton, Texas. He attended Texas A&M University, where he ...
of Galveston County
Galveston County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, located along the Gulf Coast adjacent to Galveston Bay. As of the 2020 census, the population was 350,682. The county was founded in 1838. The county seat is the City of Galveston, ...
.
Personal life
Smitherman and his wife, the former Marijane Frede, reside in Austin. They have four children, two of whom graduated from Texas A&M, one of whom is at Southern Methodist University and one is at Princeton University. The Smithermans are active members of the non-denominational Austin Ridge Church in Austin.
References
External links
About Chairman Smitherman
at Railroad Commission of Texas
The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC; also sometimes called the Texas Railroad Commission, TRC) is the state agency that regulates the oil industry, oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas indus ...
website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smitherman, Barry T.
1957 births
Living people
American bankers
Members of the Railroad Commission of Texas
Texas Republicans
Texas A&M University alumni
University of Texas School of Law alumni
People from Baytown, Texas
Lawyers from Houston
Lawyers from Austin, Texas
Harvard Kennedy School alumni