Conservative Bo French lost his bid to oversee Texas’s lucrative oil and gas industry after losing support from key Republicans over social media posts that many within the party decried as extreme and racist.
Democrat Jon Rosenthal, a member of the Texas House of Representatives, won 52.6% of the vote, while French had received 45.4% when the Associated Press called the race at 3:36 a.m. Wednesday.
Rosenthal’s win marks the first time a Democrat won a seat on the commission since 1990, and was part of the broader rout in favor of Democrats. Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) was unseated by Gina Hinojosa, and Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton for a U.S. Senate seat.
Despite its name, the Texas Railroad Commission regulates the state’s fossil fuel industry, rather than railroads. It is widely considered one of the most powerful agencies in Texas, and oversees all planning for oil and gas production, pipeline safety, and natural gas rates.
The commission is made up of three people, who serve staggered six-year terms. In the May Republican primary, French defeated incumbent commissioner Jim Wright, who had served on the commission since 2020.
French drew nationwide interest for controversial policies throughout his campaign, vowing to end diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in the commission and fight against the “existential threat” that Islam poses to Texas residents’ way of life.
In April, French said his first legislative priority as Railroad Commissioner would be to expand a law prohibiting the sale of Texas land to noncitizens from adversarial countries such as China and Russia to include Muslim-majority countries. He also pledged to push for a joint partnership directly between the commission and Israel.
French’s campaign sparked criticism from Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX), who claimed in April that French “doesn’t know anything about oil and gas.”
“His agenda would wreck the miracle that we have in producing more oil and gas than ever before — by the way, more oil and gas than what Iran produces,” Abbott said at the time.
French later came under fire this summer for his social media posts shared in the last five years, one of which called for the public execution of political opponents, such as former President Barack Obama.
He then generated massive online controversy with a post to X showing a group of students, many of whom appeared to be of South Asian descent, at a University of Texas football game. In a caption accompanying the photo, French accused the university of displacing Texas students with “foreigners.”
Multiple top Republicans spoke out against French in the aftermath of the post, including Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who said French would “drag the whole ticket down because of his racist comments.” Cornyn said he would not vote for French.
The backlash continued after an investigation by CNN KFile found several other since-removed social media posts made by French that expressed extreme views, such as supporting public executions.
2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS LIVE UPDATES: LATEST NEWS, RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
“The penalty for treason used to be death. Even for a former president. #HangEmHigh,” one 2020 post from French read, referring to Obama.
“I want more than perp walks. I want public executions,” another deleted post from February 2025 read.
During his victory speech Tuesday night, Rosenthal said Texas voters rejected the idea of “the politics of hate.”
“The people of Texas have sent a message: the politics of hate no longer work,” the Democrat said. “There is no place for hate in Texas.”
Continue reading...
[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
