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Richard West French^[1] is a far-right^[2][3] American politician and investor. He is the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner in the 2026 election. French is the former chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party. French has made numerous anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant comments, calling for Islam to be banned and for the deportation of 100 million people from the United States.

French was born in Fort Worth and was raised in Midland, Texas. French’s father, Bob French, worked in the Texas oil industry as a wildcatter.^[4] French attended Texas Christian University.^[5] French worked as an energy investor. He was the business partner of American sniper Chris Kyle. French has mounted multiple unsucessful campaigns for the Texas House of Representatives, running in the Republican primary against State Representative Charlie Geren in 2016 and 2018.^[6]

French was elected chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party in 2023.^[7] After being elected chair, French frequently posted on social media about his goal of making Tarrant County “inhospitable to Democrats.” In June 2025, French posted a poll on his X account, asking “Who is a bigger threat to America?”. The two options in the polls were “Jews” and “Muslims”. Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick criticized the poll as promoting antisemitism and religious bigotry, and called for French’s resignation. French apologized for the post, but said he would not resign, saying he was not antisemitic, citing his support of Israel as evidence.^[8] French frequently posted Islamophobic comments as Tarrant County GOP Chair. French accused State Representative Salman Bhojani, the first Muslim in the Texas State Legislature, of “furthering jihad” and called for his denaturalization and deportation.^[9] French also claimed that a Fort Worth imam was “deeply involved in pro-terrorist activity.”^[8] In October 2025, French called for the deportation of a group of Native Americans protesting at Mount Rushmore, referring to them as “third world savages”.^[10] French has stated that the white nationalist Great replacement theory is real.^[11]

French resigned as chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party in November 2025 in order to run for Texas Railroad Commissioner, challening incumbent Jim Wright in the Republican primary. French said his goals as Texas Railroad Commissioner would be to “defend Texas, stop the Islamic invasion, and defeat the left.”^[12] In March 2026, French spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapeland, Texas, at a panel warning of the implementation of sharia, or Islamic law in Texas. At the panel, French said “The problem is, we call it Sharia [law], but the problem is actually Islam,” French said. “If they can infiltrate Texas and conquer Texas, then what’s going to happen? They’re going to be able to control the United States.” French further the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 as allowing immigration from “lots of places in the world whose culture and values do not align with America.” He called for the deportation of 100 million people from the United States, just under a third of the nation’s population. French additionally called for the deportation of all Muslims from the United States.^[13][14] French further called for banning Islam. KUT News noted that French “has spoken more about Islam and diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives on the campaign trail than the energy industry.” Oil and gas regulation is the primary responsibility of the Texas Railroad Commission.^[2] French said he would direct the Texas Railroad Commission to curb Islamic and Chinese influence in Texas oil fields; and support Israel and the nuclear family. Jim Wright criticized French’s priorities as irrelevant, saying that the Texas Railroad Commission “has nothing to do” with Islam, DEI, or the Chinese Communist Party.^[15]

In the March 2026 Republican primary, French received 31.75% of the vote, slightly less than Wright’s 32.1% of the vote. With neither candidate winning a majority, the vote proceeded to a runoff.^[16] French’s campaign was supported by hardline conservative billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, who spent a million on the campaign through their political action committee. French referred to Wright as “Jihadi Jim”, accusing him of allowing sharia law in Texas.^[17] French narrowly defeated Wright in the runoff, becoming the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner.^[18] French was subsequently endorsed by Governor of Texas Greg Abbott, despite Abbott previously warning that French would “wreck” oil production and that French “doesn’t know anything about oil and gas”.^[19][20]