Democrats Win Texas Oil Regulator Seat for First Time Since 1990

By Michael Kern - Nov 04, 2026, 8:00 AM CST Texas elected Democrat Jon Rosenthal to the Railroad Commission, the first Democratic win for the state’s oil and gas regulator since 1990, though Republicans keep a 2-1 majority. Democrats who campaigned on data center moratoriums or limits won the governorships in Texas, Georgia and Ohio, and flipped Georgia’s utility regulator to a 3-2 majority. Gasoline averaged $4.15 a gallon on Election Day, the highest on record for the date, and Trump said the Iran war was “part of” Republican losses. Texas voters on Tuesday elected a Democrat to the Railroad Commission, the regulator of the state’s oil and gas industry, for the first time since 1990. They also elected a Democratic governor who promised to halt new data center construction. Democrats running against data centers took the governorships of Georgia and Ohio and won control of Georgia’s utility regulator. Voters cast those ballots with gasoline at its highest Election Day price on record.State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a former oilfield engineer who calls himself a “drill baby, drill Democrat,” defeated Republican Bo French for a seat on the three-member commission, which oversees oil and gas production, pipeline safety and natural gas rates. Republicans, who have held every seat since 1994, keep a 2-1 majority. Rosenthal ran on lower energy costs, plugging abandoned wells, closer oversight of natural gas infrastructure and managing data center power demand. He has proposed a first-of-its-kind fee on oil and gas wastewater injected underground.Gina Hinojosa defeated Gov. Greg Abbott on promises to impose a moratorium on new data centers, tighten rules on their water and power use and end their tax breaks. Texas holds more than 25% of the data center capacity planned in the United States by 2030. As of August, 474 GW of projects were seeking connection to the ERCOT grid, more than five times its all-time peak demand. Elon Musk, the top donor of the midterms with a reported $446 million spent on Republicans, posted on X on Wednesday that data centers in space were “looking pretty appealing right now.”Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Georgia governorship after campaigning for a statewide data center moratorium. Amy Acton beat Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio on a conditional moratorium that would make data centers cover their own utility costs. In Georgia, Democrats Peter Hubbard and Sheila Edwards won seats that give the party a 3-2 majority on the Public Service Commission, which sets Georgia Power’s rates. Those rates rose more than 18% over three years, with the increases tied to the Vogtle nuclear expansion.Regular gasoline averaged $4.15 a gallon on Election Day, according to AAA, against $3.80 in 2022, and diesel averaged $6.29. The Iran war has pushed the average gasoline price in Trump’s second term above the Biden-era average, and the diesel crunch is set to last well into 2027. Trump told Fox News on Tuesday night that “part of it was Iran” when explaining Republican losses.By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.comNigeria's Oil and Gas Output Rises to 3.04 Million BoepdEuropean Gas Prices Fall 2% as Traders Wait on Trump’s Next Move in IranUAE-Controlled Moeve Sells Algerian Upstream Assets Download The Free Oilprice App Today Back to homepage