Democrat Jon Rosenthal leads Texas Railroad Commissioner race with 56% counted
The gist
With nearly 60% of ballots counted, Democrat Jon Rosenthal led Republican Bo French 56% to about 42% in the Texas Railroad Commissioner race.
No Democrat has held a seat on the oil-and-gas regulator since 1995.
How it unfolded
- Mar 2026Bo French took second in the Republican primary with about 31.8 percent, fewer than 7,000 votes behind incumbent Jim Wright, who was endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
- May 2026French won the Republican primary runoff with 50.5 percent of the vote, defeating Wright to secure the nomination.
- Sep 2026A French post on X about University of Texas students of color celebrating at a football game drew 54 million views and backlash, with some in his party condemning it as racist.