Ryan Sitton


Ryan Christopher Sitton is a Republican politician and current Texas Railroad Commissioner at the Texas Railroad Commission. A resident of Friendswood outside Houston, Sitton has been serving on the Railroad Commission since November 4, 2014.

Personal life and education

Sitton was raised in Irving, Texas with his three siblings by his mother and father, both high school science teachers. Sitton displayed a talent for math and science. Sitton attended Cistercian Preparatory School and went on to study Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University where he met his wife, Jennifer, also a mechanical engineering major.
They now have three children and are active members of St. Andrews Episcopal Church. In his spare time, Sitton is an avid fitness enthusiast, does P90X every day and maintains a collection of over 100,000 Legos.

Business career

Sitton spent his early career working for oil and gas companies, including ALCOA, Oxy, Marathon, and Berwanger Engineering and Consulting, where he created and led the mechanical integrity division. In 2006, the Sittons founded PinnacleART, an engineering and technology company. PinnacleART operates on solar power with natural gas backups.

Political career

2012 Texas House of Representatives race

In 2012, Sitton lost a runoff contest with fellow Republican Greg Bonnen in Galveston County for the District 24 seat in the Texas House of Representatives.

Texas Railroad Commissioner

Then-Commissioner Barry Smitherman decided to retire from office to run, unsuccessfully, for state attorney general. Sitton announced his candidacy for the Railroad Commission.
With 358,827 votes, Sitton finished second in the GOP primary held on March 4, 2014, and hence qualified for the runoff slot. In the second round of balloting, Christian again polled 42.7 percent of the vote, the same as his primary tabulation in a field of four candidates. Sitton, however, increased his total from the primary to the runoff election by nearly 27 percentage points, attributed to strong fundraising from industry professionals.
The Houston Chronicle endorsed Sitton over Christian on May 12, prior to the runoff election. Sitton also carried the backing of outgoing Texas Land Commissioner Jerry E. Patterson, who lost his own bid for lieutenant governor in the March 4 primary.
Sitton polled 398,652 votes to Christian's 297,654. Sitton outspent Christian by a large amount.
Sitton faced Steve Brown, a Democratic businessman from Houston, Libertarian Party candidate Mark Miller, and Green Party candidate Martina Salinas. Sitton won the general election with 58% of the vote.
Sitton was sworn in on January 5, 2015, succeeding outgoing Commissioner Barry Smitherman. He is the first mechanical engineer to serve on the Commission in 50 years.
In December 2016, Sitton praised President Donald Trump's choice for EPA head, Scott Pruitt, predicting that Trump and Pruitt's reduction of federal regulations would lead to an oil boom.
In 2017, Sitton voted in favor of Exxon Mobil in a regulation issue. He did not, however, disclose that Exxon Mobil is a client of his company, PinnacleART.
In 2020, Sitton lost the Republican Primary for reelection to Jim Wright, despite having the support of the Texas governor, lieutenant governor, and both of the state's senators. Sitton's campaign also reporedtely cost $2 million more than Wright's $13,000 campaign.
In 2020, Sitton returned to work as CEO at PinnacleART.

Election history


Ryan Sitton electoral history

;2014
;2012

Awards