Excluding judicial races, these are the Republican candidates running statewide in Texas in November 2026: Not a single one has condemened Bo French’s racists, bigotry remarks. Ken Paxton endorsed Bo French.
- U.S. Senate — Ken Paxton
- Governor — Greg Abbott
- Lieutenant Governor — Dan Patrick
- Attorney General — Mayes Middleton
- Comptroller — Don Huffines
- General Land Commissioner — Dawn Buckingham
- Agriculture Commissioner — Nate Sheets
- Railroad Commissioner — Bo French
That is the complete nonjudicial statewide Republican ticket certified by the Texas Secretary of State. (Texas Secretary of State)
So, excluding French himself, we can check seven other Republican statewide nominees’ reactions one by one.
I cannot prove why current Republican statewide nominees have not condemned the latest remarks—whether fear of part of the electorate, agreement, or some other political calculation—but the silence itself is documentable. As of the latest reporting, Abbott did not directly condemn French’s UT remarks, Patrick’s office had not responded, and Paxton had not responded; Cornyn condemned them, but he is no longer the Republican statewide nominee for Senate. (https://www.kwtx.com)
Here are the strongest documented examples I found:
- South Asian students at UT, September 2026. French posted a photograph of largely South Asian-looking UT students celebrating a football victory and wrote, “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.” He then said Texas families could not get into UT because the university “prioritize[s] foreigners over Texans,” despite having no information establishing that the students pictured were foreigners. He separately said the photograph showed how many Americans had been “displaced by foreigners.” (https://www.kwtx.com)
- A person’s African name as grounds for exclusion. An archived copy of one of French’s recent posts reads: “Someone named ‘Chinedu Ogbodiegwu’ shouldn’t even be in our country.” That statement makes the person’s name itself the reason given for saying he should not be here. (sotwe)
- Native Americans as “third world savages.” In a 2025 post accompanying a picture of Native American women at Mount Rushmore, French wrote about “third world savages” whom “we conquered” and said they should be added to a list of people to “denaturalize and deport.” His campaign later said he meant only the people pictured rather than Native Americans generally. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
- “Chimp Out” and SNAP recipients. Before SNAP benefits were scheduled to lapse in November 2025, French declared “National Chimp Out Day” and warned about 40 million recipients potentially rioting, invoking the unrest after George Floyd’s killing. Critics said the “chimp” language evoked a longstanding racist comparison of Black people to apes. French denied that interpretation and said “chimp out” merely meant freaking out. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
- Jews versus Muslims. In June 2025, he posted a poll asking, “Who is a bigger threat to America?” with only two choices: “Jews” or “Muslims.” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick responded at the time by calling for French to resign as Tarrant County GOP chair and saying antisemitism and religious bigotry had no place in the party. French later said he regretted posting the poll. (Express News)
- Muslims as the problem, not merely extremism. At CPAC in March 2026 French said Republicans should more openly embrace Islamophobia, called for deporting 100 million people, and said, “The problem is, we call it Sharia [law], but the problem is actually Islam.” He warned Muslims could “infiltrate Texas and conquer Texas” and said immigration since 1965 had brought people whose “culture and values do not align with America.” (The Texas Tribune)
- “Islamic invasion.” French’s own campaign website has an issue heading, “Stop the Islamic Invasion of Texas,” and says he will fight what it calls an “Islamic invasion” from the Railroad Commission. In February, he canceled an appearance because the event was at an Islamic center and said the “Islamization of Texas” had made the state more dangerous. (Bo French)
- Zohran Mamdani. French called the Muslim New York politician an “islamitard” and called for his deportation. During the same episode, he reposted material accusing immigrants of eating people’s cats and dogs. (Express News)
- Ilhan Omar and mass deportation. In August 2026, he wrote that he would accept fewer deportations if Omar were among them, then added: “Just kidding. I want them all gone.” (Houston Press)
- Birthright citizenship. After the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship, French called the decision “traitorous,” used the term “anchor babies,” and said Texas should refuse to recognize children born to undocumented parents as citizens. (The Texas Tribune)
- Puerto Rican journalist. Reporting on French’s earlier posts says he labeled a Puerto Rican journalist “soon-to-be-deported,” although Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. (Chron)
- His Jewish opponent and Bolshevism. French circulated an AI-generated image portraying his Jewish Democratic opponent, Jon Rosenthal, smiling in the room where the Romanov family was murdered by Bolsheviks. The Houston Press reported the incident and quoted a Chronicle editor asking why French was linking his Jewish opponent with the Bolshevik Revolution. (Houston Press)
And there is another category we have not even included above because it is not racial: his repeated anti-gay and disability slurs. The Texas Tribune documented him calling opponents “homo,” using “retard” repeatedly, and running a poll in which support for Kamala Harris could supposedly mean someone was “Gay” or “Retarded.” (The Texas Tribune)
The evidence therefore supports a broader statement than “French made one racist post.” There is a documented pattern over several years involving Black Americans, Native Americans, South Asians, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, and others.
What the evidence does not establish is which explanation accounts for the silence of particular Republican statewide nominees. But that itself gives you a very clean question for the article:
After all of this, why will Texas Republicans running statewide not simply say Bo French is wrong?
