SAN ANTONIO – Fourteen candidates crowd the primary race for Texas’ 21st Congressional District, which includes much of north San Antonio, some of Austin’s suburbs and parts of the Hill Country.
One candidate dropped out of the race, but his name, Kyle Sinclair, will still appear on the ballot.
Leading the 11 Republicans running for the seat is Mark Teixeira, a former Major League Baseball star.
Teixeira brings no political background to the race but touts endorsements from President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott, along with other leaders and Turning Point USA.
Other names on the Republican ballot:
- Daniel Betts
- Jason Cahill
- Jacques DuBose
- Zeke Enriquez
- Weston Martinez
- Peggy McCormick Wardlaw
- Paul Rojas
- Heather Tessmer
- James “Trey” Trainor
- Mike Wheeler
Gary Taylor, Kristin Hook and Regina Vanburg will be on the Democratic ballot.
Hook ran for Texas’ Congressional District 21 in 2024 against then-incumbent Chip Roy but received only about 36% of the vote. She’s back in the race in 2026, vying for Roy’s soon-to-be vacant seat.
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Only two people have held Texas’ 21st Congressional District seat in the last 40 years.
Roy is the most recent, but he is not running for reelection as he eyes a run for attorney general on the statewide ballot. Prior to Roy, Lamar Smith held the seat for about three decades.
KSAT asked each primary candidate about their top initiatives for this race. The following are the interviews with each candidate in alphabetical order by last name.
Daniel Betts (R)
Betts top initiatives are water, preventing a Chinese attack and affordability.
“One of my stretch goals is getting rid of the income tax and moving this to a consumption tax model,” Betts said. “I think that’s going to end up saving us a lot of money in the long run.”
Betts also shared his thoughts on the Affordable Care Act and a plan for healthcare, immigration and taxes.
Jason Cahill (R)
Cahill said his top initiatives boil down to one initiative: balancing the federal government’s budget.
“They can’t live within their means or control spending, and I’m frankly tired of getting into building a nation of crippling debt that my children are going to inherit, your children and grandchildren are going to inherit, just because people don’t know how to live within their means," Cahill said.
Cahill also shared his thoughts on taxes, education, healthcare and immigration.
Jacques DuBose (R)
DuBose’s top initiatives are border security, the fentanyl crisis and veterans.
“I lost my daughter, Michalia, three and a half years ago,” DuBose said. “She was given fentanyl and didn’t know it, and it’s still a hole in my heart. So I know there’s several families out there that are dealing with that."
He also shared his thoughts on immigration, the Affordable Care Act and taxes.
Zeke Enriquez (R)
Enriquez wants to ensure President Trump’s executive orders are codified, pass the SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) Act and fighting against Sharia Law.
“I think the biggest one that would have a most immediate impact would be Executive Order 14158, and that relates to DOGE and making those cuts permanent,” Enriquez said. “I think if we can get rid of a lot of that fraud, waste and abuse, you’ll see that in your bottom line, in your back pocket."
Enriquez also mentioned making sure legislation is easy to understand through “single-issue bills.”
Kristin Hook (D)
Hook’s top initiatives are affordability, corruption, immigration and education.
“Right now, we have children, women and children and asylum seekers, people who are here legally in our country, rotting in a detention center less than an hour away,” Hook said. “There’s no reason that they should be in a prison facility. They did not commit a crime.”
Hook also wants to expand voting rights and enact evidence-backed policy.
Weston Martinez (R)
Martinez is focused on securing elections, Sharia Law, securing the border and securing water.
“We had a terrible situation in San Antonio City Hall where everybody is anti-ICE,” Martinez said. “They’re helping to make our streets safer. We have to make our streets safer."
Martinez also said he wants to address taxes and stop the “out-of-control taxes.”
Peggy McCormick Wardlaw (R)
McCormick Wardlaw’s top priorities are immigration, the federal debt and reforming the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
“We need the people who pay taxes, whether they’ve come here legally or illegally,” McCormick Wardlaw said. “We need workers when they are honest and they work hard and they stay out of trouble with the law. They should have a path to legalization."
McCormick Wardlaw also said she wants to ensure people are voting in the primary “because of gerrymandering.”
Paul Rojas (R)
Rojas’ wants to minimize H-1B abuse, artificial intelligence and protecting Texas water and scam centers.
“There is an expansion of AI,” Rojas said. “We’ve seen it with President Trump’s initiatives, but we have to do it in a way that protects Texas water, protects the land. We have a lot of issues that if we just let this open expansion, whether it’s power, whether it is water, it’s going to affect and change the Hill Country in ways that most folks don’t understand.”
Rojas also addressed people keeping more of their paycheck when it comes to taxes and using social media to engage younger voters.
Gary Taylor (D)
Taylor’s top initiatives are the economy, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, immigration and compassion.
“I believe economics is the issue that can bring more people into our party because I believe if we go fully into the old-fashioned New Deal agenda, that we can make the economy better for at least 80% of the people,” Taylor said.
Taylor also mentioned education, taxes and Medicare.
Heather Tessmer (R)
Tessmer’s goals are to make Texas the best it can be, listen to people and shake things up.
“I grew up in rural Hill Country and so the immigration practices right now are actually detrimental to a lot of the constituents in this district,” Tessmer said. “A lot of immigrants are family members. And I know a lot the people that I know and love are terrified for their family members."
According to Tessmer’s website, she is prioritizing abortion, military, families, the Second Amendment, secure borders and legal immigration.
Mark Teixeira (R)
Teixeira’s top initiatives are having secure elections, securing the boarder, and eliminating fraud and waste in the federal government.
“The Trump administration has done an incredible job securing the boarder, but we have to deport criminal illegal aliens,” Teixeira said. “We really do. Our cities are not safe."
Teixeira is back by prominent politicians like President Donald Trump, Gov. Gregg Abbott and members of the Texas delegation in Congress.
James ‘Trey’ Trainor (R)
Trainor’s top initiatives are election integrity, The SAVE Act, codifying President Trump’s executive orders and the Department of Government Efficiency.
“The work that I did when I was at the Federal Election Commission on the DOGE Project,” Trainor said. “We were able to get rid of some bureaucracy that we didn’t need and to cut our budget, and I want to see that process continue forward because the DOGE process is not fully complete."
He also spoke on taxes and closing the border.
Regina Vanburg (D)
Vanburg is focusing on protecting wealth, water and the right to vote.
“There’s already a bill in congress right now, it was presented by Al Green, it’s HR 122,” Vanburg said. “It matches the federal minimum wage rate to the poverty threshold. So if you’re working a full-time job, you should be 25% above the poverty threshold. It’s a genius piece of legislation, just sitting there waiting for somebody like me to support it."
Vanburg also said she is deeply concerned about the SAVE Act.
Mike Wheeler (R)
Wheeler’s top goals are addressing the country’s debt, attacking affordability, saving social security and de-leveraging the United States from China.
“I’d like to know exactly how many assets we have, and I would like to start leveraging them and squeezing every dollar we can out of them and start using that to pay down the debt,” Wheeler said. “I would love to attack affordability, especially for our kids.”
Wheeler also addressed waste and fraud, as well as limiting lobbyists in health care.
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