A WIRED review of candidates running in the November midterms found hundreds of Republican contenders who express hateful ideologies, share racist content, or have ties to extremist figures. Exclusive data from the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights shows more than 500 state legislative candidates belong to far-right Facebook groups promoting militias, gun rights, and Christian nationalism. Many of these candidates are expected to win, and President Donald Trump has endorsed or defended several of them.
The race with the clearest business stakes is for Texas Railroad Commissioner, a position that regulates the state's oil and gas industries and will help decide how the booming data-center sector is powered. GOP candidate Bo French, who is a slim favorite in recent polling, has called for removing 100 million people from America, used homophobic slurs, and posted racist comments about South Asian students. Republican strategist Karl Rove said he would vote for a Democrat rather than support a "bigot." French has not received Trump's public endorsement.
The broader trend carries risks beyond individual races. WIRED notes that terrorism and targeted violence incidents rose 19% in 2025, the US Capitol Police saw a 58% increase in threat assessment cases against members of Congress, and the US Marshals Service documented threats against nearly 400 judges. The article argues that the Trump administration has effectively given extremist candidates a "permission slip" to embrace rhetoric that would have been unthinkable in earlier Republican eras, creating an uncertain environment for governance and business alike.