Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Nov 3: Indian American Democrat Pooja Sethi, who is contesting the Texas House of Representatives election, has challenged Republican US Senate nominee Ken Paxton to condemn party colleague Bo French's posts targeting Indian Americans, accusing him of seeking the community's votes while remaining silent on the controversy.
"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, the Democratic candidate for Texas House District 47 in Austin, was responding to a post by X user Vasant Bhatt, who claimed that sources had informed him that Paxton visited the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Irving on October 31.
"So you want to walk into our temples, kneel before our deities, and participate in our sacred worship when there's an election to win, while simultaneously associating yourself with and endorsing people who are unabashed Hinduphobes and racists?" Bhatt wrote. He added that he was "currently seeking photographic confirmation of the reported visit".
French, the Republican nominee for the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the state's oil and gas industry, triggered the controversy on September 13 with a post on X accompanying a photograph of University of Texas students, many of them of South Asian descent, celebrating a football victory.
"I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn't believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined," French wrote. According to X, the post has received more than 54 million views.
On the same day, Paxton, who serves as Texas Attorney General, posted a statement condemning racism but did not name French.
"I condemn racism in all its forms, including James Talarico saying white men are America's top terror threat and that he prays to overcome his own 'whiteness,' whatever that means," Paxton wrote.
Talarico, a Democrat contesting the Senate seat against Paxton, had earlier challenged him on X, asking: "@KenPaxtonTX: will you condemn this blatant racism or will you cower to extremists?"
Sethi has made the controversy a central issue in her final election campaign appeal.
"At a time when hate is on the rise, we have the opportunity to make history. We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced. Hate has no home in Texas," she posted on Sunday.
If elected, Sethi would become the first South Asian woman in the Texas Legislature. She is an attorney and former chairperson of the Travis County Democratic Party.
Paxton's campaign did not immediately respond to the posts. Texas votes on Tuesday.