Dem running for Texas Railroad Commissioner praised communism in its 'purist form'

Democrat Texas State Rep Jon Rosenthal, who is running against Bo French for Texas Railroad Commissioner, voted against a bill in 2025 that requires teaching about the dangers of communist regimes in public schools, arguing that communism is “pacifist.”

In a resurfaced clip during arguments over amendments for SB 24, Rosenthal said that the bill needed to be broadened “and not just talk about communism in isolation of that word, but connect it to totalitarian regimes, because communism in its purist form, in its own form, is pacifist.” Rosenthal ultimately voted against the bill. 

The bill, which was passed and signed into law in 2025, requires that schools adopt age-appropriate lessons for grades 4 and up regarding “the history of and tactics used by communist movements in the United States,” “historical events and atrocities attributable to communist regimes” such as Mao’s Cultural Revolution and the Soviet-era Great Terror, the “oppression and suffering experienced by people living under communist regimes,” and how communism spreads in the modern era, among other topics. 

With Democrats likening the Trump administration to a fascist regime, Rosenthal had sought to amend the bill to include teaching about Nazism and its resurgence. “We are seeing signs of rising authoritarianism like the politicization of independent institutions, spreading of disinformation, executive power grabs. Does any of this sound familiar to any of you?” he said before voting against the bill, per WFAA. 

Rosenthal and French are running for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees energy infrastructure in the state. French won the Republican primary in May, defeating incumbent Commissioner Jim Wright.