A CNN KFile investigation published on 28 September found at least five since-removed posts from February 2025 in which Bo French, the Republican nominee for the Texas Railroad Commission, invoked executions, gallows or hanging against opponents, including former President Barack Obama.

CNN also uncovered other execution-advocacy posts from a since-suspended account French used during his failed 2016 and 2018 statehouse runs. French did not respond to CNN's inquiries.

The criticism builds on French's 13 September post of a photo of University of Texas students — many of South Asian descent — celebrating the Longhorns' win over Ohio State, captioned: "The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined." NPR reported he also wrote that "social media is exposing how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners". He has refused to delete or apologise.

Senator John Cornyn called the post racism and said he would not vote for French; Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows urged him to delete it; his Democratic opponent Jon Rosenthal called it "the politics of hate"; and GOP strategist Karl Rove said he would vote for the Democrat for only the second time in his life. A September poll put French at 44% to Rosenthal's 42%.