Todd Staples

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Background

Staples was reared in Palestine, the seat of government of his native Anderson County in East Texas. He graduated from Palestine High School, where he was an active member of the Future Farmers of America. While in college, he served from 1981 to 1982 as state vice-president of the FFA. He attended Texas A&M University in College Station and graduated magna cum laude in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics.<ref name=csconf/> He started a plant nursery and later became involved in cattle ranching with his family. He also owned a real estate business. For a time, he was an instructor at Trinity Valley Community College in Palestine.

Staples has two adult children from his first marriage, which ended in divorce.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Staples is a Southern Baptist deacon in his local church.

Leading the Texas Oil & Gas Association

After a national search, Staples was selected to lead the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) in 2014 because of his broad range of experience and leadership capabilities, according to the TXOGA Board of Directors.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Representing the largest oil and national gas state in the nation, Staples implemented a multi-faceted approach to educate voters and elected officials on the industry's operations, commitments and contributions including regular communications with the media, educational events, speaking engagements across Texas and robust digital outreach efforts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

During his tenure, Staples has led several bipartisan efforts, including the creation and funding of TexNet Seismic Monitoring Program at the University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology and the creation of the Texas Methane and Flaring Coalition, an industry-led effort to reduce methane emissions in oil and natural gas operations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He created regional Energy Summits featuring leaders like the Mayor of Houston and the President of Nasdaq and an annual Energy Elevated Technology Showcase to highlight industry innovation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Railroad Commission called on Staples to serve in leadership roles to enable Texas to recover from the pandemic's impact on the economy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He serves as an expert witness for the Texas Legislature.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Political career

Staples served on the non-partisan Palestine City Council from 1989 to 1991. In February 1995, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives District 11 seat in a special election to replace Elton Bomer, who had been appointed state insurance commissioner by newly elected Governor George W. Bush. In a contest against two Democrats, Staples avoided a runoff by about sixty votes, having collected 50.6 percent of the vote.

In 2000, Staples entered the race for the District 3 seat in the Texas Senate, vacated by Drew Nixon. Despite personal scandal surrounding Nixon, Staples held the seat for the Republican Party, having received more than 60 percent of the vote in the general election. He represented Anderson, Angelina, Cherokee, Hardin, Henderson, Jasper, Nacogdoches, Newton, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby and Tyler counties, and portions of Montgomery and Smith counties.

In the Senate, Staples was the chairman of the Transportation & Homeland Security Committee, the Workers Compensation Select Interim Committee and the Texas Senate Republican Caucus. Staples sponsored and helped to pass a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. He was the vice-chair of the State Affairs Committee and the Veteran Affairs & Military Installations Committee.

Staples was unopposed for the Republican nomination for Agriculture Commissioner in 2006 when the incumbent Susan Combs instead was elected Texas Comptroller to succeed Carole Strayhorn. Staples defeated Democrat Hank Gilbert and Libertarian Clay Woolam in the November 7, 2006, general election. He received 2,307,406 votes (54.77 percent), a margin of 547,000 votes over Gilbert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2010, Staples ran for re-election as Agriculture Commissioner and won with more than 60 percent of the votes, again against Democrat Hank Gilbert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=csconf>Template:Cite news</ref>

Staples explained that in his role as commissioner he is compelled to tell the story of agricultural success: "It's up to us to engage with consumers because we know there are those who do not appreciate the work that's being done and what that means for available and affordable food supply."<ref name=csconf/>

Staples was recognized by Texas A&M University as an accomplished public servant and enthusiastic champion for rural Texas and was noted for protecting consumers by initiating an unprecedented sweeping investigation into fraudulent operators of convenience stores suspected of defrauding unaware buyers of fuel. He partnered with then-Attorney General Greg Abbott, who obtained a jury verdict of $30 million against a Houston-based owner of convenience stores.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On September 18, 2014, Staples announced his resignation as Texas Agriculture Commissioner to become the president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association.

2014 primary for lieutenant governor

Though Staples enlisted baseball great Nolan Ryan as his campaign chairman, he finished third in the primary for lieutenant governor with 235,981 votes (17.8 percent).<ref name=incollegestation>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=electionresults>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Positions

Same-sex Marriage

In 2003, Staples sponsored a bill that prohibited the State of Texas from recognizing same-sex marriages, then again in 2005, sponsored and campaigned for another bill that successfully amended the Texas Constitution to limit marriage to one man and one woman.

"Meatless Mondays"

In 2014, Staples criticized school districts that adopted "meatless Monday" policies, stating that "restricting children's meal choice to not include meat is irresponsible and has no place in our schools."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>