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.
2 candidates · ballot order · Brian Babin currently holds this 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.
Border security, which he calls his top priority; he voted for $1.6 billion in border wall construction funding.
Repealing the Affordable Care Act, which he argues damages the doctor-patient relationship and raises costs.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, cutting federal spending and deregulation.
Second Amendment rights; he is a thirty-year NRA member with a 100% NRA voting record.
Opposition to abortion; he holds a 100% rating from National Right to Life.
NASA and space exploration, through his subcommittee chairmanship; and repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision affecting Texas retirees.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
U.S. Representative for the 36th District since January 2015.
Chair of the House Space Subcommittee.
Dentist and Army veteran; father of a decorated Navy SEAL.
Voted for $1.6 billion in border wall construction funding and for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Advanced from the March 3, 2026 Republican primary.
Arguments in favor
He chairs the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee in a district that includes Johnson Space Center, and pushed back on his own party's administration over NASA: "I simply do not believe that this budget proposal is capable of supporting what President Trump himself has directed the agency to accomplish over his two terms, nor what Congress has directed by law", against a 23% cut.
— Brian Babin, in his opening statement on NASA's FY2027 budget request
He turns up for the votes: 158 missed out of 6,375 roll calls between January 2015 and August 2026, 2.5%, close to the median for sitting members.
— GovTrack voting record
Arguments against
He has never held a town hall in more than ten years in office: about 300 people gathered in the Clear Lake area in April 2025 to demand that he and Rep. Randy Weber meet their constituents.
— Organisers of the Clear Lake rally, reported by Houston Public Media
In the hours after the Capitol was stormed on January 6, 2021 he voted to omit Arizona and Pennsylvania from the count of presidential electors, and he had texted the White House chief of staff about overturning the result.
— Republican Accountability PAC, and reporting by The New Republic on the Meadows text messages
What we couldn’t verify
His response to the town hall demand was not established from the sources found.
No Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee page about him by name was found, and no criticism of him from his general election opponent.
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.
Safe firearm storage laws, the cause she has worked on since her daughter's death.
Investment in public schools rather than voucher programmes, with higher pay for teachers and support staff.
Renewable energy investment alongside recognition of the region's existing energy economy.
Opposition to current ICE operations: "No human being is illegal."
Opposition to the SAVE Act, which she calls a poll tax by another name.
Universal health care independent of employment, ending Middle East wars, eliminating tariffs, raising the minimum wage and taxing billionaires.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Disabled military veteran; dependent on VA care.
Her daughter Kimberly Vaughan was killed in the Santa Fe High School shooting in 2018; she has campaigned on firearm storage law for six years since.
The proposed Kimberly Vaughan Safe Storage of Firearms Act is named for her daughter.
Won the March 3, 2026 Democratic primary.
Has not held elected office.
We found no published arguments for or against this candidate.
What we couldn’t verify
No published criticism of Hart by name could be found: not from Brian Babin or his campaign, not from the National Republican Congressional Committee, and not from southeast 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.
Her daughter Kimberly Vaughan, 14, was the youngest person killed in the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting; she has campaigned on gun violence prevention since, and ran against Rep. Randy Weber in 2024 before this race.
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 Brian Babin and Democrat Rhonda Hart are the two candidates on the November ballot. The district was redrawn in Texas's 2025 mid-decade redistricting and covers southeast Texas from the Clear Lake area and NASA's Johnson Space Center out through Chambers County to Beaumont, Lufkin, Jasper and Silsbee. 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.