Republican Bo French is narrowly ahead of Democrat Jon Rosenthal in the Texas Railroad Commission race, although the poll showing his lead also records a sharp deterioration in his public image following controversial social media posts.
French has the support of 44% of likely voters, compared with 42% for Rosenthal, according to a survey by the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern University. Libertarian candidate Arthur DiBianca is backed by 3%, while 11% remain undecided.
The two-point gap is within the poll’s stated margin of error of plus or minus 2.31 percentage points. French’s advantage has also narrowed by one point since the previous survey in July.
Bo French’s favourability falls among Texas voters
While French remains slightly ahead on voting intention, the proportion of voters who view him unfavourably has more than doubled since July.
In the latest survey, 32% said they had an unfavourable opinion of French and 22% viewed him favourably. Almost half, 46%, said they did not know enough about him to form an opinion.
In July, 19% of voters viewed French favourably, 14% unfavourably and 67% said they lacked sufficient knowledge of him. The latest figures suggest that greater awareness of the Republican candidate has been accompanied by a more negative assessment.
Rosenthal remains largely unknown outside his core support. Some 76% of those surveyed said they did not know enough about the Democratic candidate to have an opinion, down from 83% in July. Eleven per cent viewed him favourably and 13% unfavourably.
There are signs of limited cross-party support for Rosenthal. Six per cent of Republican respondents said they intended to vote for the Democrat, while none of the Democrats surveyed said they would support French.
Among Republicans, 80% backed French, 11% were undecided and 3% supported DiBianca. Ten per cent of Democrats had yet to make up their minds, while 1% favoured the Libertarian candidate.
Backlash over comments about University of Texas students
The survey was conducted from 15 to 19 September, shortly after French attracted criticism from politicians in both parties over posts about students celebrating the University of Texas Longhorns’ victory over Ohio State on 12 September.
French shared an image of the crowd and wrote: “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.” He later asked: “How many Americans have been displaced by foreigners.”
Republican US Senator John Cornyn condemned the remarks, while Democratic candidate Rosenthal also criticised French. Republican figures including Representative Dan Crenshaw have joined the backlash, and former George W Bush adviser Karl Rove has said he plans to vote for Rosenthal.
The University of Texas said that Texas residents accounted for 80.5% of its students in the 2025-26 academic year. A further 10.2% came from 48 other US states and the District of Columbia.
The Texas Railroad Commission regulates the state’s oil and gas industry. The election will take place on 3 November.
