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Dawn Buckingham

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Dawn Buckingham
29th Land Commissioner of Texas
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 10, 2023
GovernorGreg Abbott
Preceded byGeorge P. Bush
Member of the Texas Senate
from the 24th district
In office
January 10, 2017 – January 10, 2023
Preceded byTroy Fraser
Succeeded byPete Flores
Personal details
Born (1968-02-21) February 21, 1968 (age 56)
Political partyRepublican
SpouseEdward Buckingham
Children2
EducationUniversity of Texas at Austin (BS)
University of Texas Medical Branch (MD)

Dawn Buckingham (February 21, 1968) is an American physician and politician who has served as Land Commissioner of Texas since 2023. She was elected in November 2022 and sworn in on January 10, 2023. A member of the Republican Party, she served as a state Senator from 2017 to 2023. She worked as a surgeon before being elected Land Commissioner. She is the first woman in Texas history to serve as Land Commissioner.[1]

Background

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Buckingham is a seventh-generation Texan. Buckingham grew up in League City, Texas, before moving to Austin. She attended Westlake High School.[2] She attended college at the University of Texas at Austin, and medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

Buckingham was a school board member of the Lake Travis Independent School District from 2014 to 2015.[3] She was also an appointee to the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission[2] and the vice chair of the Texas State Board for Educator Certification.[3]

Texas Senate

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2016 Texas Senate election

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The district stretches from the Austin suburbs in Travis County, West to Texas Hill Country, and North to Abilene covering roughly 20,000 square miles of territory.[4] Buckingham was one of six candidates in the Republican primary to replace retiring state senator Troy Fraser.[5] Buckingham portrayed herself as a political outsider and was endorsed by former governor Rick Perry.[6] In the March 1, 2016, primary she received 25% of the vote, with state representative Susan King of Abilene receiving 27% of the vote.[7] Because neither candidate received a majority, they advanced to a runoff election in May. After a contentious campaign focusing on the records and geographic profiles of the two candidates,[4] Buckingham won the runoff with over 60% of the vote.[8]

In the November general election, Buckingham faced Democratic nominee Virginia "Jennie Lou" Leeder of Llano. Buckingham won with over 70% of the vote.[9]

Tenure

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Buckingham filed her first bill to subject faithless presidential electors to a civil penalty of $5,000 and to bar them from being electors in the future. The American Conservative Union has given her a 96% lifetime rating.[10]

Texas Land Commissioner

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2022 Texas Land Commissioner campaign

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See also: 2022 Texas elections § Commissioner of the General Land Office

On June 6, 2021, Buckingham announced a run for Texas Land Commissioner in 2022.[11] She became the Republican nominee after winning the May 24, 2022, runoff.

Tenure

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Buckingham assumed office on January 10, 2023.

On March 7, 2023, a guest lecture by Texas A&M professor Joy Alonzo at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) was allegedly critical of Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick's administration's response to the opioid crisis. Buckingham's daughter attended the lecture, and shortly afterwards, Buckingham called Patrick to relay Alonzo's comments.[12] Buckingham's run for Land Commissioner had been endorsed by Patrick the previous year, and they had served six years together in the Texas Senate.[13] Buckingham then also called Texas A&M's vice chancellor for governmental relations to relay the same information. Within a few hours of the lecture ending, UTMB emailed a notice of formal censure of Alonzo to all lecture attendees. A subsequent investigation and consideration of termination of Alonzo by Texas A&M was started. The investigation was ultimately closed two weeks later and found no evidence of wrongdoing.[12]

Following the re-election of President Donald J. Trump in November 2024, Buckingham pledged to help his new administration with deportation of illegal immigrants by donating land owned by the State of Texas. [14][15]

Personal life

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Buckingham is married to Ed Buckingham; they are both practicing physicians, herself as an oculoplastic surgeon.[16] Buckingham is a Christian.[17] The Buckinghams have a son and a daughter.[12] Their son, Dalton, played college baseball at Sewanee as an undergrad, then transferred to Texas State as a graduate student to complete his baseball career and earn an M.B.A.[18] [19] [20]

References

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  1. ^ DuPree, Will. Where George P. Bush is working after leaving Texas elected office, KXAN-TV, January 18, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Munsch, Don (July 31, 2015). "Lakeway doctor makes run at state Senate". Killeen Daily Herald. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Rice, Rachel (August 19, 2015). "Dawn Buckingham announces candidacy for state senate". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Walters, Edgar (May 11, 2016). "Buckingham, King Pull No Punches in Senate Runoff". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  5. ^ Rauf, David (January 16, 2016). "Primaries see heated 'arms race' of ad buys". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  6. ^ Walters, Edgar (January 22, 2016). "Candidates Struggle to Stand Out Across Huge Senate District 24". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  7. ^ Thorp, Clay (March 3, 2016). "Buckingham, King in runoff for Senate 24". Killeen Daily Herald. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  8. ^ "Dawn Buckingham bests King in District 24 race". Kilee. Abilene Reporter-News. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  9. ^ Sullivan, Josh (November 9, 2016). "Buckingham takes Texas Senate District 24". Killeen Daily Herald. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  10. ^ "Buckingham files bill to punish faithless electors". Burnet Bulletin. December 28, 2016. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  11. ^ Svitek, Patrick (2021-06-04). "Republican state Sen. Dawn Buckingham is set to run for Texas land commissioner". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  12. ^ a b c McGee, Kate; Barragán, James (2023-07-25). "Texas A&M suspended professor accused of criticizing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in lecture". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
  13. ^ Sainato, Michael (25 July 2023). "Texas professor suspended hours after criticizing lieutenant governor in lecture". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  14. ^ https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/19/texas-border-starr-county-ranch-trump-deportation/
  15. ^ https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-location-huge-texas-ranch-trumps-mass-deportation-plan-1990608
  16. ^ "Meet Dr. Dawn - Dr. Dawn Buckingham". Archived from the original on 2017-12-28. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  17. ^ "Baptist Ministers Association Endorses Dawn Buckingham for Texas Land Commissioner".
  18. ^ https://sewaneetigers.com/sports/baseball/roster/dalton-buckingham/7285
  19. ^ https://txst.com/sports/baseball/roster/dalton-buckingham/10545
  20. ^ https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=buckin000dal
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Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Land Commissioner of Texas
2022 		Most recent
Political offices
Preceded by Land Commissioner of Texas
2023–present 		Incumbent
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