Victor G. Carrillo

The son of an immigrant from Mexico,[1] Carrillo is a native of Abilene, Texas. He received a bachelor of science degree in geology from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. He then attended Baylor University in Waco, where he earned a master of science degree, also in geology. From 1988 to 1994 he worked as a petroleum geophysicist for Amoco. He attended law school at night and in 1994 procured his J.D. degree from the University of Houston Law Center.[1][2] From 1994 to 1996, he was an attorney for the Texas General Land Office under the Democratic commissioner Garry Mauro.[3]

Having returned to Abilene in 1996, he taught political science for a time at Hardin-Simmons and served on the city council and as an assistant city attorney while maintaining a law practice. He and his wife, Joy McClellan Carrillo, have three daughters. While in Abilene, they attended Abilene Bible Church,[2] and Carrillo was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Abilene Hispanic Leadership Council, Keep Abilene Beautiful, the Salvation Army, and the board of advisors of the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas, and Energy, published by the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.[3] He was appointed Taylor County Judge, and in 2002 ran for and won election to full four-year term in that position.[1] However, he served less than two months of his elected term before resigning in February 2003 to accept a gubernatorial appointment to the Texas Railroad Commission, filling a seat vacated by Tony Garza,[2] who had resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.[4]

Carillo joined the Railroad Commission, the state's petroleum, natural gas, and pipeline regulatory body as an appointee of Governor Rick Perry. In 2004 he sought an elective term on the Railroad Commission, failing to win the primary outright, but winning the Republican nomination after a runoff against the politically unknown Robert Butler.[5] In that year's general election he won a full six-year term on the Commission, easily defeating Democrat Bob Scarborough.[6][7]

Carillo served on the Railroad Commission until 2011, when his elective term ended. He was a candidate for renomination in the statewide Republican primary election on March 2, 2010, but he was handily defeated by newcomer David J. Porter, an accountant from Giddings who received 732,892 votes (60.7 percent) to Carrillo's 474,096 (39.3 percent).[8] In the November 2, 2010, general election, Porter then defeated the Democrat Jeff Weems, an oil-and-gas lawyer from Houston.[9]

On his website as Railroad Commission chairman, Carrillo used the slogan "Promoting Texas Energy for All Texans", adding: "Texas is our nation’s premier energy producing state and the Texas energy sector plays a critical role in ensuring domestic energy security. At this critical stage in our nation’s energy security future, we must responsibly drill more in our own backyard to minimize foreign oil and gas imports."[10]