Longtime Republican strategist Karl Rove is breaking with his own party in a Texas down-ballot race, announcing in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that he will vote for a Democrat for only the second time in his life, after accusing the GOP nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner of “raw, uncut bigotry.”
The controversy traces back to a University of Texas at Austin football moment. After the No. 4 Longhorns pulled off a come-from-behind victory over the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes, Republican nominee Bo French posted a photo of the jubilant UT student section — not to celebrate the win, but to make a comment widely condemned as racist. “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this,” French wrote, referring to students who appeared to be of South Asian or Hispanic descent. “I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”
Several Texas media outlets later interviewed some of the students pictured and reported they are U.S. citizens — not a surprise, given that UT’s competitive, merit-based admissions process requires more than 90 percent of each incoming class to come from Texas. Still, French’s post went viral, racking up nearly 53 million views and drawing bipartisan condemnation.
According to the Texas Tribune, which cited three anonymous sources at a private Austin lunch, Rove privately called French a “bigot” and said he intended to vote for French’s Democratic opponent, Jon Rosenthal. President Trump, who had endorsed French, responded angrily on Truth Social, calling Rove a “stone cold loser.”
Rove confirmed the Tribune’s reporting this week in his Journal op-ed, titled “Why I’m Voting for a Texas Democrat.” He argued French’s football-crowd post was part of a broader troubling pattern, not an isolated incident. Rove pointed to French previously telling the wife of an Asian-American Democratic state lawmaker, “Families deported together stay together,” after she posted a photo with their children on the House floor. Rove also noted that as Tarrant County GOP chairman in 2025, French posted a poll on X asking, “Who is a bigger threat to America?” with the choices “Jews” or “Muslims” — a post that prompted Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to call for French’s immediate resignation and drew criticism from Fort Worth’s Republican mayor.
Rove went further in the op-ed, warning that French is not an isolated case but represents a “growing number” of bigoted voices gaining influence within the conservative movement, including figures he described as antisemitic conspiracy theorists and religious bigots. He wrote that he would vote for Rosenthal and called on the party to clean house.
Rove is not the only conservative voice raising alarms. Radio host Erick Erickson published a Substack post this week warning of a “group of white guys” gaining influence in conservative and Christian circles who “embrace white nationalism, antisemitism, and even Nazi sympathies.” Erickson noted the UT students in French’s photo had assimilated exactly as critics of immigration have long demanded, yet still faced attack.
The episode also revived scrutiny of past controversies, including a 2023 meeting between white supremacist Nick Fuentes and a West Texas PAC tied to major GOP donors, with then-state party chair Matt Rinaldi spotted nearby, though he denied meeting with Fuentes.
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