Douglas Todd Staples (born August 24, 1963) ^[2] is the former two-term Texas Commissioner of Agriculture . He unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2014.

On September 18, 2014, Staples announced that he would resign by mid-November to become president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association, following a controversy surrounding his views on a "Meatless Monday" campaign being adopted by some Texas schools. ^[3]

Background [ edit ]

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 . ^[4] 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. ^{[5] [6]}

Staples is a Southern Baptist deacon in his local church.

Political career [ edit ]

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. ^[7]

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. ^{[8] [4]}

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." ^[4]

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

2014 primary for lieutenant governor [ edit ]

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). ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Positions [ edit ]

Same-sex Marriage [ edit ]

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.

Electoral history [ edit ]

2014

2010

Texas general election, 2006: Texas Commissioner of Agriculture[4] Party Candidate Votes  % -Republican Todd Staples 2,9573,406 60.82% -Democratic Hank Gilbert 1,738,456 35.79% -Libertarian Clay Woolam 164,035 3.37%

Turnout 4,856,266

2006

2002

2000

2000

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• Campaign site