Jon Rosenthal campaigns for Texas Railroad Commission seat

State Representative Jon Rosenthal, a Democrat from Houston, has launched his campaign for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission. During a town hall in Laredo, Rosenthal, an oil field engineer, discussed the agency’s role in regulating the state’s oil and gas industry, including topics such as underground carbon dioxide injection, data centers, and the impact of wastewater disposal on seismic activity in the Permian Basin.

Rosenthal will face Republican nominee Bo French in the general election. French, a former Tarrant County Republican Party chair, has centered his campaign on cultural issues. The contest highlights a contrast between Rosenthal’s focus on technical industry regulation and French’s emphasis on broader social and political debates.