The Texas Railroad Commission race has turned into a magnet for wealthy donors, and Miriam Adelson’s political committee has put $500,000 behind Jim Wright as the Republican runoff enters its final stretch. By Tuesday, contributions to Wright and Bo French had climbed to more than $3.4 million since Feb. 22, pushing an office once known for quiet politics into one of the state’s most expensive down-ballot contests.
Wright said on Facebook that Adelson’s gift sent a message to French, writing that the contribution underscored French’s hateful attacks on Jewish people and his repeated anti-Semitic rhetoric. He added that he and Dr. Adelson stand firmly with Israel and that he joins conservative leaders across Texas in condemning French’s bigotry. Harlan Crow also gave $10,000, while Wright’s campaign said it had raised nearly $2 million in the race and had about $58,000 in the bank as of Tuesday.
The spending surge is unusual for a board that oversees Texas’ oil and gas industry. Nancy Sims said the office has generally been low-profile and that the race had not been very competitive for the last 30 years, but she said this time there is concern about having a commissioner with issues far beyond the oil industry. Texas Republicans have condemned French in the past over comments about Jewish people, adding another layer to a contest already shaped by money and by politics well outside energy policy.
The Texas Oil and Gas Association’s Good Government Committee has given Wright about $100,000 in total, and Exxon Mobil’s political arm has contributed more than $20,000. Several Exxon Mobil executives also donated tens of thousands of dollars, showing how the industry and major donors have both moved into a race that used to attract far less attention.
The Railroad Commission is a three-member board that oversees the state’s oil and gas industry, and its Republican runoff winner will face Democrat Jon Rosenthal in November. That general election will come in a state where no Democrat has won statewide in decades, but the runoff itself has already become a test of which faction of Texas Republicans can command the most money, the loudest support and the clearest backing from donors willing to make a point.
