Rosenthal wins Railroad Commission seat

State Rep. Jon Rosenthal won 51.2 percent of the vote Tuesday night, securing a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission.

The result gives Rosenthal 3,806,329 votes. Republican Bo French finished second with 3,498,631 votes, or 47 percent. Libertarian Arthur DiBianca received 131,944 votes, or 1.8 percent.

These figures come from Associated Press estimates as of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Associated Press had counted 72 percent of the total ballots at that time.

French conceded the race in a post on X late Tuesday. He wrote that the night was not what his campaign had hoped for. He thanked supporters for their time and dedication. He said he would never forget their love for Texas.

French said he is not going anywhere because there is work to do. He quoted Thomas Jefferson on preferring the dreams of the future to the history of the past. He described the spirit of the Lone Star State as indomitable.

Rosenthal claimed victory in a statement issued Tuesday night. He said Texans rejected blatant hate and racism. He said they chose good governance. He stated that there is no place for hate in Texas.

This election marks the first time a Democrat has won a Railroad Commission seat since Bob Krueger in 1990. No Democrat has served on the three-member commission since 1994. The agency regulates the state's oil and natural gas industries, pipelines, and certain mining operations. It does not oversee railroads.

Rosenthal is a four-term state representative from northwest Harris County. He represents District 135. Before entering politics, he worked as a mechanical engineer in the oil and gas industry for more than 25 years. He defeated incumbent Gary Elkins in 2018 to join the Texas House.

During his campaign, Rosenthal emphasized his technical background. He called for stronger enforcement of natural gas weatherization requirements. He proposed increased funding to plug abandoned wells. He sought greater accountability for polluters.

French is a former Tarrant County Republican Party chairman. He campaigned on reducing regulations. He also promised to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the commission.

The race drew national attention after French posted a photo of South Asian students celebrating a University of Texas football victory in September. He suggested in that post that foreigners were displacing Americans. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said he would not vote for French. French defended his comments.

President Donald Trump had endorsed the Republican who defeated French in the May primary runoff. That was Commissioner Jim Wright. Trump later left French off a list of Texas Republicans he urged voters to support. Wright was defeated by French in that primary contest by a narrow margin.