A Texas candidate for state railroad commissioner sparked fury online after fundraising for her campaign as a Democrat — then filing to run as a Republican.
Katherine Culbert, a process safety engineer who has worked on oil and gas projects, would be co-running the agency that regulates energy across the Lone Star State, which most importantly involves the fossil fuels industry.
Culbert previously ran for the Railroad Commission as a Democrat in 2024, losing to Republican Christi Craddick. As of just days ago, she fundraised for her new 2026 campaign through ActBlue, a fundraising platform for Democratic candidates. And according to Michelle Davis of the Lone Star Left Substack, Culbert reached out to Davis to promote her campaign through her list of Democratic campaigns.
At the last minute, however, Culbert proclaimed on X that she has filed to run for the other team.
“I have officially filed to run for Texas Railroad Commissioner in the 2026 election cycle,” wrote Culbert. “Filing as a Republican, I am directing my campaign toward all Texans and stressing that effective statewide leadership must rise above partisan expectations.”
This immediately drew fury, and accusations that she had scammed and defrauded both donors and candidate support networks.
“Let’s be clear. Switching from Democrat to Republican is not a decision you make on a whim,” wrote Davis. “You don’t wake up one morning, pour your coffee, and say, ‘You know what? Forget everything I’ve ever said publicly, every donor I’ve taken money from, every volunteer who’s knocked doors for me. I think I’ll join the party of election deniers and book banners today’ … This was a plan. This was a rollout. This was a rebrand that began before she emailed me, and she used my work, my time, and my audience as a stepping stone on her way out the door.”
“How does it feel defrauding Democratic donors one week before you file as a Republican?” wrote Jack Chrismon, a financial director with the College Democrats of Texas. “How many people graciously donated money to you to pay your filing fees only for you to file as a Republican one week later? @actblue should disable your account and blacklist you.”
“I don’t say this lightly but complete scumbag behavior to solicit donations via ActBlue (posing as a Democrat by doing so) to only then file for office as a Republican,” wrote attorney Blake Allen. “If you donated to her, you should demand a refund. Disqualifying for office to scam people like this.”
With Culbert switching parties on her way to filing, the main Democratic candidate in the race for Railroad Commissioner is former oilfield engineer and state Rep. Jon Rosenthal.
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