Ken Paxton and James Talarico spar over racially charged post about Texas college students

Published September 13, 2026 9:17pm ET | Updated September 14, 2026 9:34am ET



Texas Senate candidates Ken Paxton and James Talarico sparred on Sunday afternoon after multiple Republican lawmakers in the state denounced a racially charged social media post made by a candidate for state office.

Bo French, the Republican nominee for the Texas Railroad Commission, was quickly denounced by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and multiple state lawmakers on Sunday after he posted a picture of seemingly Asian American students celebrating in the stands of the University of Texas at Austin’s football stadium during Saturday night’s victory against Ohio State. French said he had “heard UT graduation this year looked like this,” and that “the problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”

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