nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
Bo French was such a headache for some Republican leaders last year that they asked him to resign as a county party chairman.
But if their goal had been to try to sideline Mr. French, among the loudest voices on the far right in Texas, that effort may have backfired.
With the support of a couple of billionaire oilmen, Mr. French has become a viable candidate for a powerful statewide job overseeing the Texas oil and gas industry, a cornerstone in the nation’s energy portfolio. Attorney General Ken Paxton headlined Mr. French’s campaign kick off party. Steve Bannon, a former close aide to President Trump, has boosted his candidacy.
On the other hand, Mr. French is opposed by Gov. Greg Abbott and other top Republican officials, along with some of the biggest companies in the energy business. They have all thrown their considerable conservative weight and campaign cash behind Jim Wright, the staid incumbent chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission who is facing Mr. French in a May 26 runoff.
The contest, mostly overlooked outside of Texas, offers a clear test of the power of a traditional business-backed conservative incumbent against a self-described “America First” upstart challenging his own party’s boundaries of decency.
The two men, who have never met in person, are waging parallel but utterly disparate campaigns.
Mr. French, 56, frequently posts anti-Muslim rhetoric on social media, claiming the state of Texas is being taken over by Muslims. He has called for the deportation of nearly one-third of the country and attacked his critics as “liars” or “gay race communists.” Accused criminals, he has said, deserve one punishment: “A rope.”
But if their goal had been to try to sideline Mr. French, among the loudest voices on the far right in Texas, that effort may have backfired.
With the support of a couple of billionaire oilmen, Mr. French has become a viable candidate for a powerful statewide job overseeing the Texas oil and gas industry, a cornerstone in the nation’s energy portfolio. Attorney General Ken Paxton headlined Mr. French’s campaign kick off party. Steve Bannon, a former close aide to President Trump, has boosted his candidacy.
On the other hand, Mr. French is opposed by Gov. Greg Abbott and other top Republican officials, along with some of the biggest companies in the energy business. They have all thrown their considerable conservative weight and campaign cash behind Jim Wright, the staid incumbent chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission who is facing Mr. French in a May 26 runoff.
The contest, mostly overlooked outside of Texas, offers a clear test of the power of a traditional business-backed conservative incumbent against a self-described “America First” upstart challenging his own party’s boundaries of decency.
The two men, who have never met in person, are waging parallel but utterly disparate campaigns.
Mr. French, 56, frequently posts anti-Muslim rhetoric on social media, claiming the state of Texas is being taken over by Muslims. He has called for the deportation of nearly one-third of the country and attacked his critics as “liars” or “gay race communists.” Accused criminals, he has said, deserve one punishment: “A rope.”