A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The Railroad Commission of Texas doesn't usually get a lot of attention. But it is being talked about this week after a Republican candidate for the board criticized the fact that students of color were among the crowd cheering at a football game. From member station Houston Public Media, here's Natalie Weber.
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NATALIE WEBER, BYLINE: After the University of Texas defeated Ohio State's football team, UT's athletics department posted a video that included students of Asian or South Asian descent celebrating in the Texas crowd. Republican Bo French, who's running for the Railroad Commission of Texas, which oversees the state's oil and gas industry, took a screenshot and wrote, quote, "like bodycams exposed criminals, social media is exposing how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners." He called it, quote, "far worse than any of us could imagine." His campaign did not respond to a request for an interview. But on "The Mark Davis Show," a conservative radio show on 660 AM in Dallas, he defended his remarks.
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BO FRENCH: DEI was discriminating against deserving people so that, you know, these liberal bureaucrat administrators could select their preferred groups of people. Well, that is what is racism.
WEBER: French's Democratic opponent, Jon Rosenthal, said in an interview that French was practicing the politics of hate.
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JON ROSENTHAL: For someone to take this moment of pride and joy and unity for Texans of all types and look at an image and see only his personal division and hate because of the color of the skin of some of those students is - you know, we run out of adjectives.
WEBER: Some Republicans condemned it, too, including Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows and U.S. Senator John Cornyn, who called it racism. University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus has researched the impacts of political scandals.
BRANDON ROTTINGHAUS: There's a fear for Republicans that this issue is going to splash back up on them and create additional liabilities.
WEBER: Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who is up for reelection, took a less direct approach. He called French's remarks, quote, "not my message," but he also called for tough immigration enforcement. Rottinghaus says the debate reflects national conversations in the Republican Party.
ROTTINGHAUS: Texas is the big wildcard for the national-level elections. This is a controversy that has resonance with the way that the Republican Party is governing and has been governing.
WEBER: Political scientist Michael Adams at Texas Southern University in Houston says French may have brought attention to an obscure post.
MICHAEL ADAMS: If he had kept his mouth shut - right? - you know, nobody would have known what the Railroad Commission is and said, hey, this is not important. So they may not have voted, or they may have just voted Republican.
WEBER: The Railroad Commission regulates the state's oil and gas industry, setting rates and safety standards for a state that produced around 40% of America's crude oil last year.
For NPR News, I'm Natalie Weber in Houston. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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