When Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) surprised Washington, D.C., and Texas with his decision to run for state attorney general, a familiar face to sports fans entered the race to succeed him in the House.
Former Texas Rangers infielder Mark Teixeira announced his congressional campaign for the newly redrawn 21st Congressional District on Aug. 28.
New congressional districts take effect in January 2027, after a Republican-led effort to increase by five seats what’s now effectively a 25-13 edge over Democrats in the Texas delegation. The soon-to-be 21st District will cover most of southern central Texas, with parts reaching into Austin and San Antonio. It’s considered a Republican stronghold. No Democrat has represented its predecessor districts, which cover much of the same territory, since 1979.
In 2024, President Donald Trump won the district with 61% of the vote.
That makes the Aug. 21 Republican primary tantamount to winning the House seat. Teixeira is aiming to stand out in what will likely be a crowded GOP field.
“It takes teamwork to win — I’m ready to help defend President Trump’s America First agenda, Texas families, and individual liberty,” Teixeira said in a statement. “Roy has represented this district with unwavering courage and leaves an impressive legacy of principled conservative leadership. I’m running to ensure District 21 remains prosperous and free for generations to come.”
The 45-year-old has never held political office. Teixeira did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner magazine.
He played 14 seasons in the MLB after being drafted fifth overall by the Rangers in 2001 out of Georgia Tech.
Teixeira found success on the field with the Rangers, winning two Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards.
However, during his 4 1/2 tenure, his reputation with Rangers fans and the media was strained at times.
“I never got the vibe that he was held in very high regard among Ranger fandom … it’s not that he was a bad guy, but more that he never did anything to ingratiate himself with them,” said Mike Rhyner, a longtime Dallas sports commentator and host of the Your Dark Companion podcast.
Rhyner told the Washington Examiner magazine that some Rangers fans believed Teixeira, also known as “Tex,” would leave the team for whoever offered “the biggest free-agent pile.”
Teixeira has expressed his love for playing for Texas, saying last May, “I wanted to be a Texas Ranger for life.”
In July 2007, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves after rejecting an eight-year, $140 million contract extension. That trade was credited with helping the Rangers become two-time American League Champions in 2010 and 2011.
After a brief stint with the Angels, Teixeira played most of his career with the New York Yankees, winning a World Series in 2009.
He became a baseball analyst with ESPN in 2017 but left in 2021 to return to Texas. He served on the board of directors of the Georgia Tech Athletic Association and the board of trustees for the Georgia Tech Foundation. Teixeira joined the BIP Ventures Evergreen BDC board of directors in 2024.
And dating back to at least 2020, he’s shown an interest in politics.
Teixeira donated $2,800 each to the campaigns of Roy and Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) in 2020, according to the Federal Election Commission. He donated another $5,800 to Roy’s campaign in 2021.
In 2023, Teixeira posted on X touting an Education Savings Account proposal in the Texas legislature. The next year, he appeared with school choice advocate Corey DeAngelis at an event for the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.
He hinted at a possible congressional run last spring.
“I’ve always thought about maybe running for public office, as crazy as that sounds,” he told the Dallas Morning News.
Teixeira’s entry into the political field still surprised some people who covered him during his time with the Rangers.
“I never pictured him as a candidate for office, but these days, there are lots of people holding office that I never pictured as candidates,” Norm Hitzges, a longtime north Texas sports analyst, told the Washington Examiner magazine. “His announcement surprised me and, I take it, lots and lots of others.”
It will be interesting to see how Teixeira will make the switch from baseball player and analyst to political candidate, particularly in the rough-and-tumble landscape of Texas politics.
Rhyner said Teixeira was a bit “aloof” as a baseball player because of his interest in other fields, including business. Hitzges agreed that Teixeira was “a bit ‘different’ as a player.”
Rangers bloggers occasionally had a different view of his personality. Adam Morris of Lone Star Ball wrote in 2008 that Teixeira struck him as “a bit of a prima donna.”
That could be a problem in the GOP primary, particularly with residents who are used to Roy’s ability to weave in and out of being a conservative-libertarian firebrand and an intellectual devoted to the movement’s ideas and principles.
Teixeira is expected to face former Kendall County Republican Party Chairman Mike Wheeler in the primary. Others could join, too, since open congressional seats in the area don’t come along often.
Wheeler, a realtor and former bond trader, told the Washington Examiner magazine that he has a better resume to represent the district.
“I’ve spent hundreds of hours across the district, from San Antonio to the Hill Country, listening at grassroots meetings,” Wheeler said. “No one has a closer pulse on our district than I do.”
Wheeler has also served in various positions for the Texas Republican Party, including as a delegate to the state convention and a precinct chairman. Wheeler’s social media is filled with pictures of him with Roy and Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX). He said he received a presidential appointment as a senior adviser to the Small Business Administration this past spring.
Much like Roy, Wheeler said his focus is on reckless federal spending and the national debt.
“Very soon, the interest on our national debt will become the largest item in the federal budget,” Wheeler said. He added that that can’t be allowed to happen.
Teixeira told Fox News he wants to eliminate fraud in the federal government and make sure the government works for the people. His campaign website echoes Trump-era themes such as expanding DOJ efforts to cut “inside wasteful spending” and securing the border.
He also promised to be bipartisan on certain issues, like tax rates and national security, if they could improve the country.
“But when you say that men can get pregnant, where do I go with that?” he told OutKick.
So far, Teixeira is leading in nationwide exposure and endorsements. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), vice chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, endorsed Teixeira on Sept. 15.
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Rhyner thinks Teixeira has a chance to make his way into the halls of Congress.
“When he wants to be, he’s a really good talker, and I bet he knows how to work a room,” Rhyner observed. “He’s intelligent and can be extremely personable … I would not discount this, at least not right now.”
Taylor Millard is a freelance journalist who lives in Virginia.