Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French announces run for Texas Railroad Commission
Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French announced on Wednesday that he is running for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, the regulatory state agency that oversees Texas’ oil and gas industry.
French said he had resigned from his post leading the Republican Party in Texas’ largest purple county. In a statement announcing his statewide bid, he touted fundraising records set by the party during his tenure, President Donald Trump’s victory in the county in November 2024 and his record of relentlessly fighting the “radical left.”
French, an entrepreneur and political activist, has aligned himself with the rightmost faction of the party during his two-year stint chairing the Tarrant County GOP. He has drawn condemnation from fellow Republicans for social media posts in which he referred to political opponents with slurs for gay people and people with disabilities, and for asking followers to vote on whether Jews or Muslims pose “a bigger threat to America.”
On Wednesday, he said serving on the Railroad Commission would be the “best way that I can defend Texas, stop the Islamic invasion and defeat the left.”
“Texas oil and gas made America great and literally fueled the fight for freedom across the world,” French said. “I’m running for Railroad Commissioner to put American citizens, American interests, and American energy first.”
The Railroad Commission is made up of three members who are elected to serve six-year terms, staggered so that one seat is on the ballot every two years.
French will face commission Chair Jim Wright in the Republican primary. Wright’s colleague, Commissioner Christi Craddick, is among three Republicans vying to be state comptroller in 2026. But she would remain in her seat if she loses because she was reelected to a six-year term last November.
The third member of the commission, Republican Wayne Christian, was reelected in 2022 and will be up for a new term in the 2028 cycle.
Whoever emerges victorious in the Republican primary might face Houston state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, the only Democrat to so far have declared his candidacy for the commission. No Democrat has won a statewide election in Texas since 1994.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
