THIS IS A PROBLEM! @ScottPresler We are not doing well in Texas! @bofrench@Carlos__Turcios@AmyMek@JohnnyWhiskyTX@GOP@TexasGOP
OUTLPACED BY DEMOCRATS 53% Vs. 47% Turnout and WE AREN'T THE 53%
## Texas 2026 Primary Early Voting Turnout
Early voting turnout for the 2026 Texas primaries has been **remarkably strong**, surpassing recent elections.
### Key Numbers
- Texas has **18.6 million registered voters** (a record high)[4]
- After 7 days of early voting, **over 1.2 million ballots** had been cast — a statewide turnout of **6.75%**[4]
- **~52.9% of votes** went to the Democratic primary, while **47.1%** went to the Republican primary[4]
### What's Driving Turnout?
The surge is largely **Democrat-led**, with turnout far outpacing previous cycles[2]:
- Democratic early voting is up **~211,000 ballots** compared to the same point in 2022[5]
- The competitive **U.S. Senate race** between Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico is a major driver[9]
- Republican turnout is also up slightly (~6,000 more than 2022), though it trails Democratic numbers[5]
### Notable County Highlights
- **Dallas County** saw **more than double** the early voters compared to the 2024 presidential primary[6]
- In **Travis County**, nearly **9% of registered voters** cast ballots in the first week — the highest primary turnout since 2008[8]
- Even typically red **Collin County** saw near-equal Democratic and Republican turnout[10]
### Key Dates
- Early voting runs through **February 27**
- **Election Day is March 3**[1]
Overall, the 2026 Texas primaries are shaping up to be one of the most engaged midterm primary cycles the state has seen in years.
By now you've (hopefully) heard of @bofrench, candidate for Texas railroad commissioner who wants Natives deported.
What he actually said was that Natives are conquered 3rd world savages that should be deported.
You know what else calls Natives savages? 1/2
@bofrench The height of discrimination. That's my point. You disagree with her, ok. But stop dehumanizing people and painting them as ''the enemy'' - I know that you are stirring the pot to rile up your uneducated, unwashed and hateful base, but c'mon. Be the bigger guy.
Full article here:
A candidate for a seat on the state board regulating oil and gas activity says he’ll work to reduce regulations that have a negative impact on the industry.
Bo French, a former Tarrant County Republican chairman, told oil and gas industry leaders in a meeting recently at the Four S Oil Company office near Longview that his campaign is aimed at protecting the state’s largest and most valuable industry as a member of the Texas Railroad Commission.
“I don’t have every answer to every problem,” French said. “But I am a business guy, and what I’ve done my entire career is analyze businesses and … how things can work better, more efficiently. Nothing about what the commission has done over the last decade or so is good for the oil industry.”
French is one of five Republicans on the March 3 Republican primary ballot vying for a seat on the Railroad Commission, which no longer regulates railroads. Incumbent Jim Wright is seeking reelection, and he’s challenged by French, Hawk Dunlap, Jim Matlock and Katherine Culbert. Early voting continues through Feb. 27.
A West Texas native, French’s family has been in the oil and gas industry since the 1940s, and his father was an oilfield operator. French worked for his father before he began a career in investing. He and his brothers took over the family oil business following his father’s death in 2013. French has owned and operated oilfield security companies in the Middle East, according to his campaign website.
The Railroad Commission has adopted environmental rules that French compared to “Biden-era EPA regulations,” which French called a “disaster.” In late 2024, the commission adopted comprehensive overhauls of oil and gas waste management regulations, the first new regulations in 40 years, the Texas Tribune reported. French said he wants to roll some of those regulations back.
While he is in favor of reducing regulations on the industry, French also said he understands that the industry needs some regulation to protect landowners. French is a landowner himself and said he has been in a battle with the Railroad Commission for 20 years because an old oil well on his property leaked and contaminated groundwater. Some Texas landowners have complained that the commission hasn’t held oilfield companies accountable for damage to their property.
“I’m aware of things from the landowner side, too,” he said. “I don’t just think we ought to have no regulations. That’s insane. Nobody I know in the oil business thinks we ought to have no regulations, either. Everybody I know, all my friends are responsible people and want to protect the land.”
Existing regulations are burdensome for smaller, independent oil and gas companies, which don’t have massive teams of attorneys that major oil companies do, French said.
The Railroad Commission has centralized power at its main office in Austin, and French said he wants to return power to the agency’s regional offices throughout the state. For example, oilfield operators used to be able to obtain permits from their regional offices, but they have to get them from the main office in Austin now. That’s something French wants to reverse.
He also proposes reforming the way the commission handles one of its primary responsibilities to save money: plugging idled and orphaned oil wells, which can leak cancer-causing water and gases into groundwater, soil and air.
When an oil well is no longer in operation, oilfield operators are supposed to plug the well by filling it with concrete and other materials to keep what’s below from coming up. But the cost of plugging wells is high, and by the time an oil well is no longer profitable to operate, the companies that run them often go bankrupt and don’t pay to have the wells plugged. Those wells then become wards of the state known as “orphaned wells,” and it’s up to the Railroad Commission to plug them.
The number of orphaned wells in Texas is 10,000 or more, according to data from the commission. Commissioner Christi Craddick previously told the Texas Tribune the number of orphan wells is increasing faster than the agency can plug them, and the cost to do so is rising. She said the average cost to plug a well is about $57,000, but some wells – such as one in Odessa that blew out – cost $2.5 million. While the state requires oil companies to pay a bond that generates plugging revenue, those bond funds are less than the cost of plugging.
French said he believes the commission could lower the cost of plugging wells, and thus plug more wells, by cutting out DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) factors when selecting contractors for those jobs. More than half of the contracts awarded for well-plugging efforts take place through the state’s Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program, which previously gave some preferential treatment to minority-owned and female-owned businesses, French said.
However, the state restructured that program early this year, and it now favors military veterans instead of minorities and women. When asked if he would support increasing the agency’s budget to plug additional wells, French said that would be up to the Texas Legislature, which appropriates funding for all state agencies.
French said two of his opponents are “environmentalists,” and one of his opponents, Culbertson, was a Democrat. French said he is in favor of lowering taxes and making the oil and gas industry “better and stronger.”
In addition to oilfield-related matters, French is outspoken on various social issues that he said he believes are troubling. French told the crowd in Longview that he is concerned about the “Islamification of Texas.” He said he believes Muslims are conspiring to start taking over local governments.
“I am an Islamophobe,” he said. “I don’t care. You call me whatever.”
If elected, his role as a railroad commissioner would have no direct connection to state policy regarding religion, but French said he would use his platform as a statewide elected official to be an “outspoken, unapologetic America first advocate.”
Howdy! I'm Jordan Green, a Report for America corps member covering underserved communities in East Texas for the Longview News-Journal. I'm a native Okie and have been a newsman since 2017. Email me at [email protected] or call me at 903-237-7743.
@tiredtexasman @bofrench Lol, just sucks for the industry as a whole. Bo is a pandering self serving racist trying to grow his political career. There are better people on the ballot. Sucks we will be stuck with this just bc he identifies as MAGA.