ODESSA — On Thursday, Texas Railroad Commissioner candidate Bo French told his more than 50,000 followers on X that he had been snubbed by a Republican candidate forum in Midland, his hometown.
“To my friends in Midland, know this, I was not invited and knew nothing about this event,” he wrote, linking to a local news story recapping the event. “The good news is, actual conservatives around the state are rallying behind my campaign despite the dirty tricks of RINOs.”
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However, an official with the Midland County Republican Women, which hosted the event on Wednesday, said he had been invited.
Rhonda Lacy, vice president of programs for the organization, said they reached out to French in advance, without success. On Jan. 20th, she sent an email to his campaign website, the only way she had to reach him at the time.
Despite repeated attempts to reach him via calls, texts and emails since January, Lacy, who has served in some capacity with the club for 50 years, did not hear back from him.
“I emailed him. I called him and texted him on numerous occasions,” Lacy said in a phone call with The Texas Tribune. “My integrity and the integrity of the Midland County Republican Women has been attacked. I do not cheat, I do not lie, I’m very fair. We ask all Republicans who run in a primary or a runoff.”
Lacy said the organization has held meetings and events related to the primary elections since September. The club, Lacy said, held a forum specifically about the runoff between French and Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright. Multiple candidates, including those running for attorney general, the Court of Criminal Appeals, agriculture commissioner, county commissioners and judges, have attended the club’s events since then, she said.
“I’ve used every means possible to contact a candidate,” Lacy said.
It is the club’s policy to attempt to host candidates, Lacy said. When the primaries are over, they back the candidate who wins the primary.
French faces Wright again for the GOP nomination on May 26. The incumbent currently presides over the three-panel board of commissioners of the powerful, highly influential state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry.
Formerly the head of the Tarrant County Republican Party, French announced his bid for the commission in November. He’s pledged to end what he calls the politicization of the agency, which he said is rife with diversity policies and insufficient safeguards against Islam and the Chinese Communist Party.
French, who has used his social media accounts as a megaphone to rail against national flashpoint issues such as immigration and LGBTQ+ people, has been the beneficiary of a political action committee predominantly funded by Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. The PAC, called Texas Freedom for the Advancement of Justice, contributed $375,000 to French’s campaign, nearly half of what he amassed.
French did not immediately respond to requests for comment.