Texas Railroad Commissioner Election: Who Will Win

Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, sparked bipartisan backlash after posting on social media about Asian American students cheering at a University of Texas football game following a comeback win over Ohio State, calling them "foreigners" and saying they showed how "Americans have been displaced by foreigners." Two students identified in the photo, Dhairya Gupta and Rahul Kodali, said they are U.S. citizens and called the post racist; Gupta said the incident showed racism "isn't looked down upon as much as it used to be." UT Austin enrollment data show international students make up less than 10% of the student body, with Asian students, mostly U.S. citizens or permanent residents, accounting for about 22.4% of enrollment. French has refused to delete the posts, denied regret when asked directly, and said "Truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth," using the controversy for fundraising.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn condemned the posts as racist, warning that tolerating such intolerance is "how great political parties self-destruct," and Rep. Dan Crenshaw also criticized French. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows and GOP representatives including Jared Patterson, Jeff Leach, Matt Shaheen, and Lacey Hull called on French to delete the posts, while former Speaker Dade Phelan called him "unfit for office." Gov. Greg Abbott said the message wasn't his but stopped short of directly condemning French, instead touting support for freezing H-1B visas at universities; he has since endorsed French, as has Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Attorney General Ken Paxton, facing a Senate primary challenge from Democrat James Talarico, deflected criticism onto Talarico rather than address French's remarks. French previously faced calls to resign as county chair over a poll on Jews versus Muslims.

A bipartisan pair of Texas lawmakers is challenging the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state's oil and gas regulator, over its decision to eliminate general public testimony at monthly meetings unless a commissioner requests it. The agency has replaced the practice with listening sessions and outreach events that commissioners aren't required to attend. A House Natural Resources Committee hearing on the matter is set for September 15.

Rep. Drew Darby, the committee's Republican chair, said the change revoked a 21-year guarantee and replaced it with unchecked discretion. Democratic Rep. Terry Canales wants the Legislature to extend mandatory public-comment rules, currently applied only to local governments, to state agencies. Commissioner Wayne Christian, who pushed the policy on a 2-1 vote, defended it as expanding access statewide rather than restricting it, noting comment had been used narrowly by a small number of speakers, including political candidates. Watchdog groups, transparency experts, and Democratic commission candidate Jon Rosenthal have criticized the move as limiting accountability over an agency with major sway over oil and gas production, pollution, and wastewater regulation.