FORT WORTH, Texas — A Republican candidate for a Fort Worth area Texas House district posted and then deleted a racially coded meme on her campaign Facebook page.

On July 1, Cheryl Bean posted on Facebook an AI-generated illustration of WNBA player Sophie Cunningham on a boat with her Indiana Fever teammates, posing similarly to the “Washington Crossing the Delaware” painting. In the image, Cunningham is pointing forward, referencing a June 22 game when she pointed dramatically at Phoenix Mercury player DeWanna Bonner after a physical altercation with Cunningham’s teammate Caitlin Clark.

In the image, the Black players are wearing floaties while none of the white players are.

“IYKYK A little humor for the day,” Bean wrote in the post on Cheryl Bean for Texas.

Bean is running for House District 94 in the Nov. 3 election. The district covers central Arlington, northeast Fort Worth, Hurst and parts of Bedford. The seat is held by Republican Tony Tinderholt, who announced his retirment in June 2025 and is now a candidate for Tarrant County commissioner.

Cheryl Bean, GOP candidate for Texas House District 94, deleted a Facebook post of WNBA player Sophie Cunningham on a boat with her Indiana Fever teammates, posing similarly to the “Washington Crossing the Delaware” painting and to her viral meme. Comments on the post pointed out why only Black players have floaties and none of the white players do.

Several comments referenced why only the Black players have floaties and none of the white players do.

“So the Floaties basically trying to say we can’t swim. Because from my angle I can see who doesn’t have them on,” one person wrote.

Others laughed at the detail.

“Not the black girls with floaties on” another person wrote with a laughing and cemetery emoji.

“Okay Sophie looks fantastic but I noticed only the black women are wearing floaties. I think this made me laugh even more,” another wrote.

“Why all the black ladies got water wings?” said another.

By about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, the post was deleted.

Bean did not respond to a message seeking comment. The Tarrant County GOP also did not respond for a comment.

In a text message, Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair Allison Campolo said it is "lazy and disrespectful” for Bean to use AI-generated images for her campaign. She said the AI model shows her biases toward people who do not look like her. Campolo added the comments on the post are “profoundly upsetting.”

“This post is a clear reminder that racism is alive and well in Tarrant County, and it's all our responsibility to call it out when we see it, and to work to do better,” Campolo said

Bean will face Democrat Katie O’Brien Duzan, vice president of marketing at Veeva Systems and a TCU graduate.

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