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Karl Rove, former adviser to President George W. Bush and longtime Texas GOP political consultant, said he will vote for Jon Rosenthal, a Houston Democrat running to head the Texas Railroad Commission, after Republican Bo French posted racist comments on Sunday about South Asian students at the University of Texas at Austin.

Rove made the comments at a members-only lunch event at the Headliners Club in Austin, where he called French a "bigot," according to three attendees to whom The Texas Tribune has granted anonymity to discuss the conversation.