Longtime Republican Karl Rove said he’s not voting for Texas Railroad Commission nominee Bo French. 

The former adviser to President George W. Bush said he’s voting for Democratic nominee Jon Rosenthal in the 2026 midterm election, breaking a decadeslong pattern of voting for Republicans.

On Sept. 13, French shared a photo of a group of students of South Asian descent in the stands and wrote: “Like body-cams exposed criminals, social media is exposing how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners. It’s everywhere and far worse than any of us could imagine.” 

In a separate post using the same photo, French wrote that the image showed how UT graduation had changed and said the situation was “obviously far worse than anyone imagined.” He later defended the comments, saying families in Texas cannot get into UT because the university prioritizes foreigners over Texans.

Under Texas law, UT Austin reserves 90% of its freshman spaces for Texas residents, with 10% reserved for out-of-state and international students.

French’s posts drew criticism from prominent Texas Republicans, including Sen. John Cornyn, House Speaker Dustin Burrows and former House Speaker Dade Phelan. Some Republicans also defended or declined to condemn him, making the controversy a broader intraparty dispute.

In The Wall Street Journal op-ed “Why I’m Voting for a Texas Democrat,” Rove said that voices like French’s are harmful to the Republican Party. 

“These people are diminishing the Republican Party, not building it,” Rove wrote. “I’ll have no part of it. This November, I’ll vote for only the second Democrat in my life. The first was Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock in 1994, because I thought he would work with Republicans.”

The Railroad Commission regulates the state’s oil and gas industry, not railroads. Its Oil and Gas Division oversees exploration, production and transportation of oil and natural gas in Texas.

Rosenthal also criticized French’s post, saying on CNN this week that his comments were “truly shameful.”

“​When GOP architect Karl Rove breaks a 30-year voting streak to endorse our campaign, it proves this race isn’t about party lines, it’s about competence vs. chaos,” he said.