Todd Staples

Douglas Todd Staples (born August 24, 1963)^[1] is the current Republican (GOP) Commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture. Prior to his election in 2006 as Agriculture Commissioner, he had been a member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature and formerly served on the city council in Palestine, Texas.

Staples was unopposed for renomination in the GOP primary held on March 2, 2010. In the November 2 general election, he handily defeated the populist Democrat Hank Gilbert (born 1959) of Whitehouse and the Libertarian Party choice, Rick Donaldson of Rockwall County. Gilbert had also lost to Stapales in 2006. After the 2010 primary, Gilbert defeated Richard S. "Kinky" Friedman, who was an Independent gubernatorial candidate in 2006. Friedman announced that he was supporting Gilbert for the position and would not himself ever again seek public office.^[2]

Background

Staples grew up in Palestine (pronounced PAL ES STEEN), the seat of 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 as state vice-president of the FFA from 1981 to 1982. He attended Texas A&M University and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics in 1984. He started a nursery business, and later became involved cattle ranching with a friend. He also owned a real estate business. He is a former instructor at Trinity Valley Community College.

Staples and his wife, Janet, have four grown children: Jared Staples, Elizabeth Staples, Brian Thorn, and Jonathan Thorn. He is a Southern Baptist and serves as a deacon in his local church.

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 in a special election to replace Elton Bomer, who had been appointed state insurance commissioner by Governor George W. Bush. In a contest against two Democrats, Staples avoided a runoff by about 60 votes, having collected 50.6 percent of the vote.

In 2000, Staples entered the race for the Texas Senate seat vacated by Drew Nixon. Despite the scandal surrounding Nixon, Staples held the seat for the Republican Party, having received more than 60 percent of the vote in the general election. In the Senate, Staples served as chair of the Transportation & Homeland Security Committee, the Workers Compensation Select Interim Committee and the Texas Senate Republican Caucus. He served as 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 state Comptroller to succeed Carole Strayhorn, like Friedman an unsuccessful independent gubernatorial contender that same year. 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.^[3]

The Staples campaign at the website http://www.guiltyguiltygilbert.com issued this statement: "Our opponent has a criminal conviction for theft, unpaid taxes, current tax liens, and allegedly accepted a bribe for $150,000."^[4]

Election history

Most recent election

2006

Previous elections

2002

2000

References

External links

• Campaign site