Tarrant County Republican Party chairman Bo French spoke to a Republican women’s club meeting Feb. 10, 2024, at the Enchiladas Ole restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas.
Bud Kennedy
bud@star-telegram.com
Former Tarrant County GOP chair Bo French is leading in the Republican primary for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, the agency that regulates Texas’ oil and gas industry, as of 9:54 p.m. Tuesday evening.
French had 34.45% of the vote after early voting out of 1,097,065 total votes, according to unofficial results. Jim Wright had 31.35% percent. James Matlock had 18.33% of the vote. Katherine Culbert had 8.76% of the vote, and Hawk Dunlap had 7.11% of the vote.
The winner will face state Democrat Rep. Jon Rosenthal of Houston, who was unopposed. No votes were reported yet for Rosenthal in the first batch of results.
A runoff election on May 26 will be triggered if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.
Established in 1891, the Texas Railroad Commission has jurisdiction over the nation’s hub for oil and gas production. In addition to regulating production, the commission also has jurisdiction over natural gas facilities, hydrogen pipelines, and coal and uranium surface mining.
French’s campaign is based on three principles described on his website. He wants to end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the Railroad Commission, end “massive overregulation,” and stop an “Islamic invasion of Texas.”
French, who is also a private equity investor, was raised in Midland and comes from an oil family.
Four Republican candidates, including French, are running to replace the seat held by incumbent Jim Wright for a six-year term.
Jim Matlock, a Marine veteran who has worked in the oil industry for 20 years, said his priorities are reducing oil field waste and increasing transparency in the oil industry.
Hawk Dunlap, an oil industry veteran with 35 years of experience, said his priorities are plugging orphan wells and reducing injection of produced water, as well as improving transparency in the industry.
Kristen Culbert, an oil industry veteran on the engineering side, said her priorities are affordability and accountability for the industry, and adapting to the growth of renewable energy.
Jim Wright, the incumbent, is a fifth-generation rancher whose primary campaign priorities are reducing red tape for new oil production, plugging orphan wells, and defending landowner rights.
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 7:23 PM.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Emily Holshouser is a local news reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.