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Ballot Explained

U.S. House · November 3, 2026

Who's running in Texas's 10th congressional district

2 candidates are on the ballot. Below is what each one says they stand for, what they have actually done in office or in public life, and the arguments published for and against them — each quoted from a named source rather than summarised by us.

Candidates
2
Incumbent
Open seat
Parties
Republican · Democratic
State primary
Mar 3

Candidates appear in ballot order. We do not rank them, score them, or recommend one — here is how this is put together, and here is what the office actually does.

2 candidates · ballot order · open seat

Medium confidenceMedium confidenceThe candidate's stated positions and basic record are documented, but coverage is thin — often little independent reporting, or criticism from only one side.What would raise it: More independent reporting, a documented voting record, or published criticism from a named opponent would raise this.

What they say they stand for

Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.

  • Stopping what he calls the weaponisation of government against conservatives.
  • Border security and action against cartels.
  • Defence and technology investment, and positioning Texas to outcompete China.
  • Cutting regulation, expanding small business opportunity and strengthening rural health care access.
  • Election integrity.
  • Free speech, and American leadership in artificial intelligence while protecting rural communities from data centre infrastructure burdens.

What they’ve actually done

Documented record from official sources.

  • Founded and built a law practice from $10,000 in startup capital to more than fifty employees across seventeen states.
  • Directed America PAC during the 2024 election, which spent roughly $300 million.
  • Worked in national security at the U.S. Department of Justice; served as counsel to the Republican Party.
  • Won a federal case over IRS targeting of conservative groups and a Supreme Court case for Senator Ted Cruz.
  • Texas A&M graduate (2001) and Harvard Law School alumnus.
  • Won the March 3, 2026 Republican primary.
  • Has not held elected office.

Arguments in favor

  • The whole Republican leadership backed him out of a ten-candidate field: Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz — whom he represented in a campaign finance case he won at the Supreme Court in 2022 — and he raised more than $1 million.

    Endorsements reported by the Texas Tribune and Houston Public Media

  • He brings a specialist's command of election and campaign finance law, with degrees from Texas A&M and Harvard Law and a practice that included serving as chief lawyer to Elon Musk's super PAC.

    Chris Gober's campaign, reported by the Texas Tribune

Arguments against

  • His own testimony about Elon Musk's $1 million election giveaways showed the money was not awarded by random lottery, as Musk had said publicly, but handed to predetermined recipients.

    Robert Brown, his Republican primary opponent

  • He is one of the only Texas Republicans known to have played an instrumental role in the 2025 mid-decade redistricting that drew this very district — an effort "conducted so secretively" that its authorship is still unclear — and he did not answer questions about whether he remains retained by the RNC or how far he was involved in redrawing District 10's boundaries. He also represented Ken Paxton in the State Bar of Texas inquiry into Paxton's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential result.

    Democracy Docket

What we couldn’t verify

  • He has held no elected office, so there is no voting record to set against his campaign's positions.
  • His response to the redistricting questions was not established from the sources found — Democracy Docket reported he had not answered by publication.
  • No criticism of him by name from Caitlin Rourk's campaign or from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was found.

What they say they stand for

Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.

  • An economy that rewards work rather than wealth.
  • Affordable health care and lower costs.
  • Global leadership without what she calls reckless wars.
  • Honest and accountable government, answerable to constituents rather than donors.

What they’ve actually done

Documented record from official sources.

  • U.S. Army veteran.
  • Has worked in the private sector, in business and in policy roles.
  • Has not held elected office.
  • Won the March 3, 2026 Democratic primary.

Arguments in favor

We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.

Arguments against

We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.

What we couldn’t verify

  • No published criticism of Rourk by name could be found: not from Chris Gober or his campaign, not from the National Republican Congressional Committee, and not from central Texas news coverage, which centred on the ten-candidate Republican primary. Because no case against her exists on the record, none is presented for her either, rather than showing her own campaign's case unanswered.
  • Her positions and record were not stated in material available beyond her campaign site.
  • Her fundraising totals were not reported in material available.

Positions and criticism are quoted from the named sources, not our assessments. This is built to help you start getting informed — confirm the official candidate list with your election authority before you vote.

This seat is open: Republican incumbent Michael McCaul is not on the November ballot. Republican Chris Gober and Democrat Caitlin Rourk won their March 3, 2026 primaries. The district was redrawn in Texas's 2025 mid-decade redistricting and now stretches from downtown and western Austin through Bryan–College Station into rural east-central Texas. Roster confirmed against the Texas Secretary of State's certified ballot. Neither candidate is listed with arguments for or against here: no published criticism of either candidate by name from someone opposing them could be found, and setting out a case against one and not the other would tilt the page.

This is one contest on a longer ballot

A Texas ballot also carries state legislative districts, county offices, judicial seats and often local questions — and which of them you vote on is decided by your street address, not your city or ZIP code.

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