Opponents say Bo French’s campaign distracts from Railroad Commission priorities
Four of the five Republican candidates vying to lead the Texas Railroad Commission have similar priorities for the state’s energy industry: addressing demand from data centers, cleaning up orphan wells, and increasing transparency and accountability in the agency.
The fifth candidate — Bo French, the former Tarrant County GOP chairman — has run a very different campaign ahead of the March 3 primary.
French’s campaign is based on three principles described on his website. He wants to end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the Railroad Commission, end “massive overregulation” in the oil and gas industry, and stop an “Islamic invasion of Texas.”
French has stoked controversy on social media for years and survived relatively unscathed. Last summer, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and a chorus of other Republican leaders called for French’s resignation as Tarrant County GOP chairman over a survey he posted on X asking his 49,000 followers whether Jews or Muslims were the “bigger threat to America.” He deleted the poll, saying “some people clearly misunderstood the intent,” and said he regretted posting it.
French has perhaps the biggest audience on social media among the Railroad Commission candidates, including incumbent Jim Wright. He regularly posts several times a day, crusading against what he describes as radical Islamic extremism and calling for the deportation of all immigrants living in the United States.
He has used phrases like “third world savages” to describe immigrants.
“Entire neighborhoods have been transformed into third world favelas,” French wrote in a Feb. 23 post, using the term for impoverished urban settlements in Brazil. “Third worlders, who brought Islam, have teamed up with Marxists, and now together they openly talk about rounding us all up when they take power and disposing of us.”
In a post from November 2025, French seemed to call for the deportation of Native Americans.
“Since we are going to denaturalize and deport all the third world savages who hate our country, I am calling for adding these third world savages, who we conquered, then bizarrely let have a nation inside our nation, to the list,” French wrote in the post that includes a photo of women wearing what appears to be traditional Native American clothing who are showing their middle fingers to Mount Rushmore.
French’s campaign told Snopes, the fact-checking website, that he was referring to the people in the photo, not all Native Americans. Native Americans are U.S. citizens.
Several of French’s tweets have a note from X indicating “limited visibility” because the posts violate the platform’s community guidelines.
French did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.
A growing focus on ‘radical Islam’
French’s focus on Islam reflects a broader shift among some Republicans to target North Texas’ Muslim population.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice opened (and closed) an investigation into a planned community east of Dallas near Josephine affiliated with the East Plano Islamic Center, or EPIC. Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 4211, which targeted the project and other developments like it.
In January, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon held a “Save Texas from Radical Islam” dinner. Bannon has expressed support for French.
French’s campaign, as his opponents tell it, has gotten off track from the issues that the Railroad Commission and Texas oil and gas industry actually face. But French’s profile, and his reach within the MAGA sphere, is much larger.
The other Republican candidates have between several hundred and several thousand followers on X. Some of their posts are more overtly political than others, but the volume of posts on French’s account – and their contents — are a stark contrast.
French’s focus on DEI efforts and Islam, some of his opponents said, distracts voters from the actual issues facing Texas’ oil and gas industry.
“I think the things that he’s discussing, and the words that he’s using, are really not things that we should be concerned with,” Katherine Culbert, an engineer who is running against French, told the Star-Telegram. “There are so many bigger issues, and so many more fish to fry regarding what the Railroad Commission deals with than the issues that he’s bringing up. ... I feel like a lot of what he’s doing is using all of the partisan talking points rather than really looking at the issues of what is at stake with the Railroad Commission race.”
French has said during his campaign that he wants to end DEI efforts in the Railroad Commission. Hawk Dunlap, another Republican running in the primary, said that issues like DEI and immigration are separate from what the Railroad Commission does.
“The Railroad Commission has no jurisdiction over DEI or immigration, or H-1B visas, or anything like that,” Dunlap told the Star-Telegram. “These are topics that incense people and make them angry without discussing exactly what’s going on inside the commission.”
Dunlap said that DEI would not be a concern of his as railroad commissioner. Rather, he said, he would focus on issues like groundwater contamination, and addressing the thousands of orphan wells across Texas.
Dunlap also said that he does not share French’s concerns about Islam in Texas.
“I’m more worried about getting killed by a sand truck in West Texas than I am about Islamic extremists,” Dunlap said.
Dr. Brent Boyea, a political science professor at UT Arlington, said that French’s claims appeal to “red meat politics” for very conservative Republicans.
“If you have someone like Bo French, who is running for the Texas Railroad Commission, he’s trying to put as many sounding board issues out there to communicate to MAGA or the Tea Party, or the more conservative vein of Republican Party, that he stands up for their issues,” Boyea said. “That stuff has nothing to do with the position. But if you’re Bo French, you try to wrap red meat politics around the issue, even if it doesn’t attach to it.”
James Matlock, also running for the position, did not want to comment directly on French’s social media posts. Neither did current Railroad Commission chairman Jim Wright, but a spokesperson for his campaign said that Wright is focused on the job itself.
“Chairman Wright’s focus is on the job of ensuring Texas oil and gas production remains a driving force for our economy and U.S. energy independence, full stop.”
State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, of Houston, the sole Democrat running for the Railroad Commission, rejected French’s claims and the ideas central to his campaign.
“I reject the premise that there’s an invasion happening,” Rosenthal said. “If there was any kind of invasion happening in Texas, I’m not sure how you hold it by regulating pipelines.”
