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Ballot Explained

U.S. House · November 3, 2026

Who's running in Texas's 27th 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
Michael Cloud
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 · Michael Cloud currently holds this seat

Low confidenceLow confidenceOnly one weak source, dated material, or indirect evidence. Treat specifics with caution.What would raise it: An official filing record and at least one independent report about this candidate would raise this.

What they say they stand for

Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.

  • National defence, border security and Second Amendment rights.
  • Energy and trade, and agriculture and property rights.
  • Reducing federal spending and debt.
  • Support for veterans, and religious liberty.
  • Opposition to abortion, and support for Israel.

What they’ve actually done

Documented record from official sources.

  • U.S. Representative for the 27th District since 2018; re-elected in 2024.
  • Represents fourteen Coastal Bend counties.
  • Advanced from the March 3, 2026 Republican primary.

Arguments in favor

  • He won a seat on the Appropriations Committee in 2023 and has used it on district infrastructure — Hurricane Harvey relief, Port of Corpus Christi projects and the expansion of the Matagorda ship channel in Calhoun County — taking those cases directly to the president.

    Michael Cloud's campaign

  • He shows up for the votes: 75 missed out of 4,024 roll calls between July 2018 and July 2026, 1.9%, on par with the median for sitting members.

    GovTrack voting record

Arguments against

  • He joined the Republican effort to overturn the 2020 presidential result, supporting the attempt to discard votes cast in other states.

    Cloud's own recorded position on the 2020 election challenge

What we couldn’t verify

  • No published criticism of Cloud by name for this cycle could be found: not from Tanya Lloyd or her campaign, not from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, not from his Republican primary opponent, and not from Corpus Christi or Victoria news coverage. The single argument above rests on his recorded position rather than on an attributed critic.
  • The Austin American-Statesman editorial board endorsed Tanya Lloyd in this race; its stated reasoning could not be retrieved.
  • This district was redrawn in Texas's 2025 mid-decade redistricting; how the new boundaries change his position was not established from the sources found.

What they say they stand for

Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.

  • Protecting public education, the issue she came to politics over.
  • Expanding rural health care.
  • Reproductive rights.
  • Protecting farmers.
  • Economic investment for working families, and strengthening democratic institutions.

What they’ve actually done

Documented record from official sources.

  • Public school teacher in the Lockhart Independent School District for more than twenty years.
  • Worked in car dealerships and real estate before earning an education degree as a non-traditional student.
  • Former Republican; left the party over public education policy and the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
  • Defeated Eustaquio Castro-Mendoza and Wayne Raasch in the March 3, 2026 Democratic primary.
  • Has not held elected office.

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 Lloyd by name could be found: not from Michael Cloud or his campaign, not from the National Republican Congressional Committee, not from her Democratic primary opponents, and not from south Texas news coverage. Because no case against her exists on the record, none is presented for her either, rather than showing her own campaign's case unanswered.
  • This is her second run against Cloud; she lost the 2024 general election to him.
  • 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.

Texas held its primary on March 3, 2026. Republican incumbent Michael Cloud and Democrat Tanya Lloyd are the two candidates printed on the November ballot; Lloyd beat Eustaquio Castro-Mendoza and Wayne Raasch for the nomination. The district was redrawn in Texas's 2025 mid-decade redistricting and now runs from Corpus Christi and Victoria north and west to Bastrop, Kyle and Lockhart on the edge of Austin. Roster confirmed against the Texas Secretary of State's certified ballot; certified write-in candidates are not printed choices and are not profiled here. Neither candidate is listed with arguments for or against: no published criticism of either 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

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