TX Railroad Commission Member Facing Hard-Right Challenger. Why? He Pushed To (Slightly) Update Oil Waste Rules
Jim Wright ran for the Railroad Commission of Texas six years ago as a reformer. But his reforms drew the ire of powerful oil tycoons who are now trying to unseat him. Wright championed the first overhaul of oilfield waste rules in 40 years at the Railroad Commission, the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency. Some independent oil and gas companies criticized the rules change adopted last year. One of those companies, CrownQuest, brought a lawsuit against the Railroad Commission challenging its legality.
CrownQuest’s billionaire founder Tim Dunn is known for targeting Texas Republicans who he does not consider sufficiently conservative. He is now backing Bo French, a far-right candidate, to unseat Wright at the Railroad Commission. French, former chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party, announced his campaign in November 2025 saying he would fight “radical climate change ideology” and “foreign capture” of the industry. Key issues the Railroad Commission regulates, including flaring, injection wells and waste pits, went unmentioned.
The Texas Freedom Fund for the Advancement of Justice, a Political Action Committee (PAC) supported by Dunn and fellow oil tycoon Farris Wilks, provided French with an infusion of cash in the final countdown to the March 3 primary. The PAC contributed $375,000 to French’s campaign, more than half his total haul. In the five-person Republican primary, French finished less than half a percentage point behind Wright. The two now head to a May 26 runoff. French’s campaign shows that Texas oil barons are paying close attention to policy debates within the commission. Wright, too, has taken generous contributions from oilfield executives and industry interest groups. He has long been accused of conflicts of interest by watchdog groups because he continues to hold stakes in oilfield companies while regulating the industry. The winner of the runoff will face Democratic candidate Jon Rosenthal, a state representative from Houston, who has characterized the Republican race as a choice between “chaos and corruption.”
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Entering the race in November, French had little time to catch up before the March primary. But he benefitted from name recognition among the far-right wing of Texas Republicans. French is best known for his inflammatory comments about Muslims and calls to deport Democratic Texas politicians and Native Americans. Many Republican state leaders distanced themselves from French last year after he posted a Twitter poll asking whether Muslims or Jews were “a bigger threat to America.” French later deleted the post. Since announcing his campaign, French has not softened his rhetoric, posting multiple times a day about birthright citizenship and deportations.
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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13042026/texas-oil-billionaires-back-bo-french-for-railroad-commission/