ODESSA — The Republican primary election for a seat on the Texas governing board that regulates the oil and gas industry has oscillated from how the agency should bolster its regulatory force to a proposed crackdown on Islamic and Chinese influence in the state’s oil fields.
Four Republicans want to unseat Jim Wright, the incumbent who is at the end of his six-year term as one of three commissioners for the Texas Railroad Commission.
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Most have argued that the agency must tighten the reins on the oil and gas industry. But one candidate thinks the agency has allowed diversity efforts and foreign influence to go unchecked, saying China is acquiring Texas land and expanding its influence on the state.
Bo French, the erstwhile chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party, has pledged to put alliances with Israel and the nuclear family at the forefront of the agency’s priorities.
“He will continue to lead the fight against anti-American and anti-Israel radical Islamists who seek to use Texas oil to gain power and influence in our state,” his campaign website reads. “He will ensure that the Texas Railroad Commission remains committed to pro-life and pro-family policy.”
French could not be reached for comment, nor did he respond to multiple interview requests.
The issues French has raised bewildered his opponents, including the sitting commissioner, who said the election has come at a turning point for the oil and gas industry.
Wright said the commission “has nothing to do” with Islam or the Chinese Communist Party, and that they consider anything that the Texas Legislature requires of them as far as diversity efforts.
“I’ve never heard us once say that word,” Wright said, referring to diversity. “When we put out contracts, we look at who’s got the best price and who’s got the best experience … I never heard us say, well, we got to give it to a woman, or we got to give it to somebody else. Never have I heard that.”
Additionally, state lawmakers gave the attorney general’s office authority to investigate certain real estate deals that could be linked to the Chinese government, a spokesperson for the agency said.
In interviews with The Texas Tribune, other Republican candidates said French’s rhetoric distracts from the actual challenges the agency grapples with, such as a growing roster of abandoned oil wells, ensuring natural gas facilities are equipped for extreme weather and transparency.
“Oil and gas executives are trying to continue to pull the wool over Texans’ eyes,” said Katherine Culbert, a career engineer and candidate. “Let’s make something that’s not an issue a big one so that we can continue to skate by and have nobody know what we do, keep the railroad commission under wraps, and we’re going to continue to be able to skate by with not enforcing regulations.”
The Republican who wins the primary is expected to win the general election in November. No Democrat has won a statewide race since 1995. That person will join the three-commissioner panel, which has enormous sway over the industry that employs nearly half a million Texans and buoys the state’s coffers.
The election comes at a pivotal time for the industry. As big oil companies drill record-breaking amounts of crude oil, gas and other hydrocarbons out of the ground, they are not raking in satisfactory profits. Facing pressure from investors, oil companies are thinning their workforces, relying more on automation, and adapting their business models to power data centers and to capture and inject carbon dioxide into the ground.
Hawk Dunlap said French has raised issues that the commission lacks jurisdiction to regulate.
“You’re talking about things that the railroad commission has no control over,” said Hawk Dunlap, a lifelong oil field worker who has often been at odds with the oil industry. “You’re using the race to talk about things that don’t matter to landowners … all these hot button topics won’t have any effect on produced water injections, they’re definitely not of any assistance to the landowner who has groundwater contamination from a bad operator.”
State law requires a candidate to win more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff. Given the number of candidates, a runoff later this spring could be expected. A new poll out this week found Wright in the lead with just 21%.
French’s message has had resonance with some donors. With nearly $300,000 in his campaign coffers, French has amassed the support of oil companies such as the Fort Worth-based Moncrief Oil International, which donated $15,000. Moncrief Oil declined to comment for this story.
Midland-based Statewide Minerals Company, which donated $25,000, did not respond to requests for comment.
His own family’s oil company, French Oil, donated $20,000.
Campaign finance records show, however, that big oil companies and trade groups have their minds made up. Wright has emerged as the preferred, industry-backed candidate in the race, collecting more than half a million in donations. His benefactors include Exxon Mobil and Chevron’s political arms. Neither returned requests for comment.
The Texas Oil & Gas Association Good Government Committee, the political branch of the trade association, gave Wright $25,000. Todd Staples, who serves as a trustee for the committee and president of the trade group, said in a statement his organization was proud to support Wright’s reelection.
“Jim Wright has focused on making sure Texas continues as the leading producer of oil and natural gas in America,” Staples said. “Wright has demanded commonsense regulation and transparency while developing energy solutions and, because of it, Texas now produces more than twice as much energy as any state in the nation.”
Dunlap and Culbert received donations from landowners and regional political parties, according to campaign finance records. James Matlock is also running for office. He did not respond an interview request.
Dunlap has collected contributions from landowners whose properties have been decimated by water piercing through abandoned oil and gas wells and flooding the land, raising about $33,000. At roughly $6,600, Culbert has mostly received small-dollar donations and support from regional Democratic parties.
Dunlap, a former well control specialist who has been involved in legal fights with oil companies, said the commission will play a key role as the industry spreads its footprint and evolves its business models in the coming years.
“We are at a turning point,” he said. “Orphan wells, produced water injections, the many pipeline projects, the data centers, the threats to our groundwater. If we don’t start having a hard conversation, we’re gonna get further and further behind.”
The commission is among the most consequential regulatory agencies in Texas. Its rulings reverberate across a repertoire of issues, including the environment, the economy and the state’s energy supply and affordability.
Despite its name, the commission does not regulate the railroad industry. The name is a holdover from a bygone era.
Instead, railroad commissioners authorize oil and gas production, issuing permits and penalties. They rule on whether companies can flare excess natural gas. Its regulators also have a growing list of abandoned oil and gas wells that have become conduits for environmental disasters as industry wastewater channels through them upwards. Commissioners also must ensure natural gas facilities are adequately equipped to withstand extreme weather to avoid natural gas shortages, which result in higher prices for ratepayers.
Culbert said the railroad commission is already largely misunderstood in Texas.
“People don’t understand” the railroad commission, Culbert said. “We’re not giving it enough credit and the importance of it. Oil and gas is everywhere. Economic health across the entire state, environmental health, how much funding is available for schools, everything ties into the oil and gas industry here in Texas.”
As early voting begins next week, French doubled down on his rhetoric.
“I’m not exaggerating. The incumbent says he has no ideology, is a major Democrat donor and huge proponent of DEI,” French wrote on X. He also lambasted Dunlap, who previously ran as a libertarian, and Culbert for previously running as a Democrat. “That’s why I’m running — because none of the other candidates are actually Republicans!”
Responding to the attack, Culbert, who has been criticized for switching to the Republican Party before, said she previously ran as a Democrat to increase her chances of winning.
Jon Rosenthal is the only Democrat running for the seat and will advance to the general election. The career engineer and four-time Houston-area state legislator said the ideological debate could help bring some attention to the railroad commission.
He said he hopes voters will connect the dots between the commission’s decisions and their effects on electric supply and demand, which can change electric bills.
“I would rather make news for changing the name to the Texas oil and gas commission than talk about the CCP or Islamic invasions, or my dark horse favorite is ending DEI at the railroad commission,” Rosenthal said. “I loathe that it might be what it takes to bring attention to this race.”
Disclosure: Texas Oil & Gas Association has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.