Republican Bo French’s racist social media posts targeting South Asian university students have resulted in a fundraising windfall for his Democratic opponent in Texas’ railroad commission race.
State Rep. Jon Rosenthal told The Washington Sun on Thursday that he’s raised around $150,000 — major dollars for a Democrat in what is normally an under-the-radar race — after French posted a photo of a crowd of South Asian students at the University of Texas-Austin football game celebrating the school’s comeback win Saturday, saying, “the problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”
The comment drew national attention to the race. Rosenthal said his phone began “ringing off the hook” Sunday morning after the posts went viral and brought in a slate of new donors for him.
“For me, that’s monumental,” Rosenthal said. “It’s good to have the resources for the campaign, but certainly it’s even better to have the moral support and feel like people are with me.”
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The Railroad Commission of Texas is a crucial regulatory agency: Commissioners, who are elected statewide for staggered six-year terms, no longer directly oversee the state’s railroads but rather its powerful oil, natural gas and utilities industries. A Democrat hasn’t served on the panel since 1999.
Rosenthal said the new influx of money will allow him to travel more throughout Texas in hopes of flipping people who supported French’s primary runoff opponent, Jim Wright, who lost by 14,800 votes in May, or less than one percentage point. The state representative also hopes to put spots up on AM radio and increase digital advertising across new counties.
“There’s no avoiding that this will be, in some part, a referendum on Bo French and his brand of politics,” Rosenthal said. “It does make this an opportunity to change the direction of politics in the state — and maybe even in the country.”
Rosenthal said that the donations he’s received since the remarks average $50. Campaign disclosures verifying the amounts he shared with The Sun aren’t due until October.
French did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Part of what’s made the backlash to French’s post so stunning is how many of the state’s most prominent GOP voices distanced themselves — particularly as the Republicans in the state are fighting to keep a Texas Senate seat and are seeing a drop-off in support among Latinos and other voters of color, despite stronger turnout among those communities over the last few election cycles.
Sen. John Cornyn told The Washington Examiner on Thursday that he would not vote for the Republican candidate, calling French an “embarrassment” to the party who would “drag the whole ticket down because of his racist comments.” And Karl Rove, a former George W. Bush adviser and longtime Republican political consultant, said he was going to vote for Rosenthal this week — his second time ever voting for a Democrat.
Rosenthal joked that he did not have winning Rove’s support on his “bingo card” for the year.
Sabinal Mayor Erik Gomez, a Republican, said on Wednesday that he doesn’t know how to tell constituents in his majority-Hispanic region that they are welcome in the party.
“No Latino is going to see his comments and feel he resonates with them,” Gomez told The Sun in an email, saying he would still encourage fellow Republicans to vote within their own conservative views.
Despite losing the public support of several prominent politicians, French’s posts may not have turned off much of his base. This includes Republicans of color.
Ramesh Cherivirala, one of the founders of the Indo-American Conservatives of Texas, told The Sun that while members of his community were upset, many are still planning to vote for Republican candidates, including French, “in spite of his comments.”
But he still criticized the rhetoric French posted over the weekend.
“Most of the people I can think of in that arena, 99% of those kids — whether they are Pakistanis or Indians or any other race, Mexicans — they are born and raised here,” he said of the fans at the game. “He has absolutely no reason to say what he said.”
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