WASHINGTON — Texas’ U.S. House delegation will experience high turnover come 2027, as a spate of retirements, redistricting-related changes and competitive races have the potential to remake the state’s footprint in Washington.
The delegation also stands to get wealthier. The majority of prospective new members are likely millionaires, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of candidates’ personal financial disclosures.
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Exact net worths are impossible to pin down, given that candidates are required to list their assets in broad ranges, not exact dollar amounts. This means a candidate might report owning stock worth $15,001 to $50,000, for example, rather than a specific figure. They are required to disclose revenue-generating assets and investments, including bank accounts of over $5,000, stock portfolios, money market accounts, retirement funds and rental properties. Additionally, candidates are exempted from including some assets, such as personal residences or vehicles.
But using these ranges, it is possible to estimate the net worths of the likely incoming members who will be voting on the nation’s laws and regulating industries in which some have a direct financial stake. To estimate each candidate’s net worth, the Tribune took the midpoint of their lowest and highest possible worths, based on the assets and liabilities they listed on their disclosure forms.
Among 15 first-time candidates from Texas who could be in Congress next year and who disclosed their assets, the mean estimated net worth was $3.34 million. Nearly half the potential incoming members had net worths which, at minimum, top $1 million. Five of the 15 could be worth $10 million or more at the high end.
Anthony Gutierrez, the executive director of Common Cause Texas, a nonpartisan government watchdog group, said the trend owes to a campaign finance system that rewards candidates with money or access to it.
“If [parties] are evaluating one candidate versus another, they’re very much looking at: Is this person going to be able to raise the numbers that are required in order to be a viable candidate?” Gutierrez said. “That one piece of criteria is often the one that beats everything else.”
Common Cause advocates for a ban on stock trading among members of Congress, who are currently required to disclose stock activity but are not banned from trading. Gutierrez said a candidate who is serious about demonstrating a commitment to good governance should be comprehensive in their financial disclosures and could divest from any stock holdings.
“What is required by law as far as disclosure should be treated as the bare minimum,” he said.
The 15 candidates include nominees running in safe seats, where they are considered all but locks to win in November due to the partisan lean of the district, and nominees from both parties running in competitive seats. The analysis looks at candidates who have not held federal office before, meaning incumbents were excluded.
Two likely new members are worth at least tens of millions of dollars, and potentially worth over $100 million — Republican Mark Teixeira, running for the Central Texas seat currently held by retiring Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, and Republican Chris Gober, the favorite to replace retiring Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin.
Teixeira, a former Major League Baseball star who made hundreds of millions of dollars during his 14-year baseball career, has a net worth between about $48 million and $331 million, according to an overview of his personal financial disclosure. That figure would make Teixeira likely the wealthiest member of the Texas delegation and one of the richest in Congress.
The former first baseman holds stock in a number of companies that Congress has jurisdiction over, including tech giants like Amazon, pharmaceutical firms like AbbVie and artificial intelligence company Nvidia, through his retirement plans, a trust and a limited liability company.
Teixeira also has ownership interests in a number of companies, including an e-sports league, hotel development and management firms, and real estate developments.
Teixeira’s campaign said he has a team of financial advisors that direct his stock trades, and that he is working with them on identifying structures — including a potential qualified blind trust — to remove any financial conflict of interest while in office. Teixeira’s campaign also said the candidate’s goal is to not have to buy or sell individual stocks in Congress.
Gober, who owns the conservative powerhouse law firm LexPolitica, has a net worth of between about $32 million and $107 million, according to his disclosure. His law firm alone is worth $25 million to $50 million.
In addition, Gober owns rental properties in Port Aransas, Garland and Telluride and between $100,001 and $250,000 of Bitcoin, which would make him one of just a handful of lawmakers to own cryptocurrency as digital asset legislation gains traction in Congress.
In a statement, Gober, who has stakes in companies including Alphabet, Apple and Tesla, committed to not trading stock while he is an elected official.
“The American people don’t send people to Washington to get rich, and they deserve confidence that elected representatives are serving the people and not themselves,” he said. “As I’ve stated on the campaign trail, I won’t trade individual stocks while serving in Congress, and everything I own will remain fully disclosed to the public.”
Beyond Teixeira and Gober, several candidates have multimillion-dollar net worths. In the Houston area, Jessica Steinmann, the GOP nominee to replace Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Magnolia, is worth between $2 million and $4.6 million, while Alex Mealer, running in a redrawn seat in Harris and Liberty counties, has a net worth of $2.3 million to $8 million. Republican Jon Bonck, in retiring Rep. Wesley Hunt’s seat, is worth about $2.3 million to $8.7 million.
Republican Tom Sell, the nominee in the West Texas seat that Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, is vacating, has millions of dollars worth of assets. A farmer and lobbyist, Sell disclosed four farms, worth a combined total of $1.25 million to $2.5 million. His consulting firm, which counts several high-profile agricultural groups as clients, is worth between $1 million and $5 million.
But Sell also has mortgages and commercial notes on his properties, putting his net worth as low as negative $2.8 million and as high as $13.9 million.
Texas’ delegation could be in for further change if a handful of South Texas seats flip control this November. After redistricting, Republicans are hoping to defeat Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, with a pair of recruits the national party is enthused about.
Both Republican candidates — Eric Flores and Tano Tijerina — are multimillionaires. Flores, a lawyer challenging Gonzalez, is worth between $2.6 million and $11.4 million, owing to his ownership of a healthcare company and his wife’s trust.
Tijerina, who as Webb County Judge is already an elected official, is worth between $3 million and $10.5 million. Tijerina and his wife have ownership interests in a number of Laredo businesses, including a hemp farm which produces CBD products, an oil and gas exploration firm, a ranch and a real estate development company.
Not all prospective members are wealthy. Some, like Democrats Johnny Garcia and Katy Padilla Stout, both running in Republican-leaning districts in South Texas, have maximum net worths of under $250,000. Garcia disclosed only a pension, worth $100,001 to $250,000, while Padilla Stout only listed a bank account, a mutual fund and her spouse’s retirement plans.
Republican Trever Nehls, running to replace his brother, Rep. Troy Nehls, in the 22nd Congressional District, had the lowest estimated net worth of potential incoming members. Nehls only disclosed a handful of bank accounts, stock and a mutual fund — all worth less than $15,000, while listing liabilities in the form of revolving credit from three credit card companies.
Nehls does list a six-figure salary in earned income from his consulting business in 2024. His net worth, according to his disclosure, is as low as negative $145,000 and as high as $30,000 in the black.
One candidate — Republican Brandon Herrera, running to replace former GOP lawmaker Tony Gonzales — did not disclose any assets in his filing. Herrera solely disclosed $80,000 in income in 2024 from his company, The AK Guy, along with numerous sources of compensation in excess of $5,000, including creator payouts and merchandise sales from his YouTube presence.
Herrera has said that he “made millions” before his congressional bid and that Congress, where members earn an annual salary of $174,000, would represent a “90%+ pay cut.”
Herrera’s campaign said he plans to refile an amended financial disclosure. His campaign manager said Friday that accountants are still working on the new filing.
Herrera also said on X that he supported a proposal to prevent lawmakers from buying stock in office and pledged to refrain from doing so himself — though his current financial disclosure does not include any stock ownership.
Democrat Frederick Haynes III, who is running to replace Rep. Jasmine Crockett in her Dallas district, is the sole potential incoming member who has not filed a financial disclosure.
Disclosures are due within 30 days of becoming a candidate or by May 15, whichever is later, and must be done annually, making Haynes delinquent. He has not filed an extension request.
Haynes’ campaign said the candidate was working on the filing and expected it to be completed within a week.
Disclosure: Amazon, Apple and Common Cause have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in The Texas Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.