After six years as a member of the Texas Railroad Commission, Jim Wright has been ousted in Tuesday’s elections. Like the rodeo bulls he used to ride, Wright was tossed by a primary opponent who was considered an extremist in his political views.
Bo French defeated Wright in the primary runoff and prevailed in a campaign where he prioritized issues such as fighting DEI and Sharia Law.
It means French will face Democratic state Rep. Jon Rosenthal in the general election in November.
“I am deeply grateful for the support of TX Republicans across our state. Our campaign focused on defending oil and gas, and putting America First—and that’s exactly what I will continue fighting for as we turn our attention to radical Democrat Jon Rosenthal,” French said in a social media post. reported the Texas Tribune.
The Texas Railroad Commission is to Texas what the Corporation Commission is to Oklahoma. Both are the regulatory state bodies that government utilities, oil and gas production, electricity rates and more.
Wright’s Railroad Commission website described him as a life-long south Texan and a fifth-generation Texas rancher who understood the important relationship the energy industry has with the citizens of the state and the “role energy plays as a cornerstone of the Texas economy.”
He was elected to the Railroad Commission in November 2020 on a campaign of emphasizing the need for a fair and consistent regulatory environment designed to promote and encourage innovation in the state’s energy sector.
Wright was also a rodeo cowboy and participated in bull riding competitions for more than two decades.
French was something of a different politician, a former Tarrant County GOP Chairman who held and boasted of some of the most extreme views among Republican officials in Texas. He called on his party to more openly embrace Islamophobia and said the U.S. should deport 100 million people, nearly a third of the country’s population and a number that suggests he wants to deport U.S. citizens.
The Texas Tribune reported French also drew the ire of members of his own party for his unapologetically offensive posts on social media often using slurs to refer to people with mental disabilities and LGBTQ+ people. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called on him to resign from his county chairmanship after French posted a social media poll asking whether Jews or Muslims were a bigger threat to America. Patrick, Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, all endorsed Wright.
