{"id":298125,"date":"2026-05-18T12:34:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/298125\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T12:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:34:18","slug":"jim-wright-gets-key-endorsements-in-texas-railroad-commission-runoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/298125\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Wright gets key endorsements in Texas railroad commission runoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN – Texas\u2019 top three Republican leaders are lining up behind Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright, giving the incumbent a major boost in an increasingly combative runoff<\/a> for the agency that regulates the state\u2019s oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n

Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows have all backed Wright ahead of the May 26 race, the latest sign of establishment muscle against rival Bo French<\/a>, the former Tarrant County GOP chairman.<\/p>\n

Wright said the endorsements reflect support for his push to keep Texas \u201cthe energy capital of the world,\u201d protecting jobs, the economy and national security.<\/p>\n

French dismissed the endorsements, saying voters want a conservative commissioner who will slash unnecessary regulation, fight DEI and promote an \u201cAmerica First Agenda.\u201d
\u00a0
GOP heavyweights: Abbott had previously endorsed Wright. Patrick and Burrows did not endorse in the March primary in which Wright finished first with 32.1%, followed by French at 31.7%. The runoff was required because neither received more than 50%.
\u00a0
The three Republican leaders highlighted Wright\u2019s experience in the industry as a reason for their endorsements. \u00a0Fellow commissioners Christi Craddick and Wayne Christian are also backing Wright.<\/p>\n

Wright, meanwhile, is leaning heavily into \u201cenergy independence\u201d and national security themes. A new radio ad touts record oil revenues topping $6 billion and portrays Wright as a defender of Texas energy against \u201cradical militant\u00a0Islamists\u201d and other threats.<\/p>\n

Candidate clash: Wright, in interviews, has called French a \u201cshow pony,\u201d accusing him of making inflammatory comments disconnected from the commission\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

Last year, French posted a social media poll asking whether Jews or Muslims were the \u201cbiggest threat to America.\u201d<\/p>\n

French did not step down until announcing his run for the commission last November. He has continued to come under fire for urging Republicans to more openly embrace Islamophobia, using slurs targeting gay people and people with disabilities, and for comments about immigrants and Native Americans that critics described as racist and extremist.<\/p>\n

French said Texans want \u201csomeone who will be an unapologetic warrior\u201d and that his provocative remarks have been taken out of context.
\u00a0
Runoff stakes: Early voting for the runoff begins Monday. The winner will face state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, a mechanical engineer. Democrats have not won a statewide race in more than three decades.
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN – Texas\u2019 top three Republican leaders are lining up behind Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright, giving the incumbent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-298125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}