Democrat Rosenthal wins ugly race for Texas railroad commissioner

Democrat Jon Rosenthal won the Texas Railroad Commissioner race, CBS News projects, defeating Republican Bo French aft the GOP campaigner refused to reconsider his racist, anti-Muslim and antisemitic comments.

With astir 93% of votes counted, Rosenthal led French 52.5% to 45.6%.

The almighty Texas railroad commissioner does not woody with railroads, but alternatively regulates the state's lipid and state industry, which accounts for implicit 40% of the U.S. crude lipid output. There are 3 full commissioners — the different 2 are Republicans.

Rosenthal is presently a authorities typical from Houston and a erstwhile lipid tract engineer, who worked successful the manufacture for 25 years. French primitively hails from Midland and had been the Tarrant County Republican chairman. 

Although Rosenthal and French person differences connected lipid and state policy, the main issues successful the contention had travel down to French's arguable comments astir immigrants, Muslims and Jews successful what was already shaping up to beryllium a hard twelvemonth for Texas Republicans. 

Ahead of the May runoff, galore of Texas' salient elected Republicans agreed against French's candidacy, though helium yet won the nomination. In September, French made nationalist headlines erstwhile helium posted that University of Texas students were a "problem" due to the fact that the students appeared to beryllium of South Asian descent. In different station with the aforesaid photo, French said, "Like body-cams exposed criminals, societal media is exposing however galore Americans person been displaced by foreigners." Several of the students came guardant aboriginal and said they were American citizens. 

Shortly aft his post, Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who earlier mislaid his superior against Ken Paxton, said helium would not beryllium voting for French. Other Texas Republicans, including Karl Rove, said they would not beryllium voting for French. 

French inactive raised much than $700,000 aft the societal media station astir the UT students. Rosenthal had brought successful much than $500,000 successful the aforesaid clip period. 

Even up of his superior win, French had antecedently posted antisemitic and anti-Muslim comments and had said successful his run level that helium wanted to basal retired DEI policies, "stop the Islamic penetration of Texas" and "support beingness and the atomic family."

The past clip a Democrat won a contention for railroad commissioner was 1990.