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Candidate for Texas Railroad Commission uses social media video to attract voters

Stogner posted a campaign ad of herself semi-nude on top of an oil pump jack. She said she can now talk about issues since she has people's attention.

MIDLAND, Texas — The primary election might be over, but not every race is finalized.

A few races will be going into a runoff election. One of them is the race of the Texas Railroad Commissioner between incumbent Wayne Christian and Sarah Stogner, an oil and gas attorney. 

Christian has secured about 47 percent of the votes but is still falling short of the 50 percent needed to win the election. Stogner received over 15 percent of the votes, getting the second highest amount of votes.

NewsWest 9 reached out to the candidates about the runoff, and more specifically their unique way of campaigning.

Stogner has been in the spotlight or posting a campaign ad of herself semi-nude on top of an oil pump jack. She said getting attention on tough subjects can be an uphill battle.

"Look, no one wants to talk about ground water, flaring and earthquakes," said Stogner. "I have been trying to get everyone's attention to actually listen to the issues."

Stogner said she had to get creative to get attention to the issues she wants to solve.

"I posted it on TikTok, then I immediately posted it to Twitter and Instagram the main purpose was to get everyone's attention," said Stogner. "I have no secrets, so let's talk about the naked truth. It's a metaphor of where we are now. We have politicians, like I said, who just lie."

Stogner said for the most part she has received positive feedback for her unconventional campaign ad.

"Reception has been remarkably positive," said Stogner. "There is always going to be people that are negative, but 95 percent of it has been overwhelmingly supportive."

Stogner said that the ad was a way to grab everyone's attention and she hopes people focus on the issues.

"I have been a lawyer for 14 years and I have great operator service company clients," said Stogner. "Some try to do the right thing and as long as I've been going I noticed operators don't do the right thing. When the system is broken well how do you fix it, you run for office."

Christian and Stogner will face each other in a runoff election May 24. The winner will face the only democratic candidate, Luke Warford, in the November general election.

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