Washington, November 3, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Indian American Democratic candidate Pooja Sethi has challenged Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton to publicly condemn party colleague Bo French over social media posts targeting Indian Americans, accusing him of remaining silent on alleged bigotry while seeking support from the community.
“Waiting for @KenPaxtonTX to condemn Bo French’s bigoted attacks on Indian Americans. Or does that outrage disappear when he needs our votes?” Sethi wrote on X on the eve of Tuesday’s election.
Sethi, who is contesting Texas House District 47 in Austin, was responding to a post by X user Vasant Bhatt, who said he had received reports that Paxton visited the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Irving on October 31. Bhatt questioned the reported visit, accusing Paxton of seeking the Hindu community’s support while associating with people he described as racist and Hinduphobic. He said he was seeking photographic confirmation.
The controversy centres on a September 13 post by French, the Republican nominee for the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the state’s oil and gas industry. French shared a photograph of University of Texas students, many of South Asian descent, celebrating a football victory, and made a remark questioning the changing appearance of the university’s graduating class. The post has reportedly received more than 54 million views on X.
Paxton responded to the controversy on the same day, saying he condemned racism in all forms, but directed his criticism at Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico over remarks about white men. He did not specifically name French.
Talarico had separately challenged Paxton to condemn what he called French’s blatant racism.
Sethi has made the issue central to her closing campaign appeal, declaring that hate has no place in Texas and that the community would not be intimidated or silenced.
An attorney and former chair of the Travis County Democratic Party, Sethi would become the first South Asian woman elected to the Texas Legislature if she wins.
Paxton’s campaign had not immediately responded to Sethi’s remarks. Texas voters are going to the polls on Tuesday.
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