The Texas Railroad Commission Is A Three Member Body…

Texas Railroad Commissioner candidate Bo French on Monday stood by racist remarks he made on social media the day prior that included a photo of South Asian students celebrating a football game at UT-Austin. https://t.co/qUfxNlTP5G

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) September 14, 2026

 …that most Texans don’t even know exists, much less that they elect the members. Bo French seems determined to change that in a atmosphere that has already seen Tarrant County (where he was GOP county chair, and so racist Abbott and Patrick publicly asked him to step down) elect a Democrat in a special election for the first time in decades.

Texas Railroad Commissioner candidate Bo French stood by racist remarks he made Sunday on social media that included a photo of South Asian students celebrating a football game at the University of Texas at Austin, arguing the university promotes discriminatory enrollment practices that favor students of color.

Republicans are in disarray in Texas:

“This is racism, plain and simple,” wrote state Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, who holds great sway in the Texas Legislature as chair of the House Energy Resources Committee. “I have served on the Energy Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Railroad Commission, for most of my tenure in the Texas House, and I have never seen conduct so unbecoming of a Railroad Commissioner or candidate in that time.”

“The right thing to do is immediately delete this and issue an apology.”

Yeah, that’s not gonna happen:

“I don’t have anything against the people specifically in that picture,” [French] told [Mark] Davis [in a radio interview Monday]. “I think that the bigger conversation is, are we going to have policies to prioritize Americans … or are we going to have policies that prioritize foreigners? And I think most people in the America First movement think we ought to be prioritizing Americans.”

In that same interview:

He said UT-Austin and other institutions have prioritized foreign students and workers, which, without evidence, [he] said has resulted in fraud.

French's opponent is already benefiting from this:

Rosenthal on Monday told the Texas Tribune that French’s remarks led to a fundraising boost for his campaign that added 500 new donors who contributed $35,000.

“Republicans, Democrats and Independents are uniting behind our campaign because they know the economic engine of the Texas miracle needs steady leadership at the helm — and Bo French’s racist outbursts jeopardize the credibility of the agency he seeks to run,” Rosenthal said in a statement. “Bo French’s own party has said he is unfit for the office he seeks to hold — and Texans are putting their money behind the oil field engineer who is qualified for it.”

French may be turning into Paxton. Republicans are certainly in disarray.

The Texas Oil and Gas Association, whose political arm endorsed French last week, on Monday shared a post by House Speaker Dustin Burrows in which he said, “You can oppose immigration policy without demeaning people because of their race or ethnicity — this post has crossed the line,” and calling on the post to be deleted.

“We agree with Speaker Burrows,” the association wrote.

Not exactly a condemnation of racism (it takes me back to the arguments over the finer points of “racism” v. “prejudice” of my childhood. IYKYK.), but it will be interesting if French bows to the demands of the most important oil industry organization in Texas.

Or will he defiantly keep this alive?  Jon Rosenthal can certainly use the money. 😈