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Terry Virts
Terry Virts (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 9th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on March 3, 2026.[source]
Virts also ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Texas. He will not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on March 3, 2026.
Virts completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Terry Virts served in the U.S. Air Force from 1985 to 2017. He earned a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1989, a graduate degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 1997, and additional education from Harvard Business School in 2011.[1]
2026 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the March 3 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas as a battleground election. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Colin Allred (D), James Talarico (D), and three other candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas on March 3, 2026. As of December 2025, Allred and Talarico led the candidate field in polling, fundraising, and media attention.[2][3][4] The filing deadline is December 8, 2025.
Axios' Stephen Neukam described the primary as having "quickly turned into one of the most intriguing Democratic contests on the map next year."[5] Summarizing an interview with Democratic strategist Matt Angle, WFAA's Michael McCardel said, "Allred has more name recognition and Talarico is considered an underdog. But Talarico has a massive social media following Angle thinks will be important for fundraising and raising his profile. And Talarico’s faith could also help attract some voters."[4]
Allred is a former member of the U.S. House who was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in 2024, losing the general election to Ted Cruz (R). That year, Allred won the Democratic primary with 58.9% of the vote. A former professional football player and civil rights attorney, Allred says he is running for Senate "to lower costs and stop corrupt politicians like John Cornyn and Ken Paxton from rigging the economy against hard working Texans."[6]
Talarico was elected to the state House in 2018. Talarico worked as a middle school teacher before entering elected politics.[7] Writing in Politico, Adam Wren said Talarico's candidacy "sets up among the sharpest nationwide tests of whether a red-state candidate can run against the national party’s brand."[8]
Also running in the primary are Emily Morgul (D), Michael Swanson (D), and Paula Williams (D).
As of December 2025, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales, and Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball each rated the general election Likely Republican.
In the 2024 election, incumbent Ted Cruz (R) defeated Allred 53%–45%. In 2020, incumbent John Cornyn (R) defeated M.J. Hegar (D) 54%–44%.
Elections
2026
U.S. House District 9
See also: Texas' 9th Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on March 3, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
General election for U.S. House Texas District 9
Roy Morales (Independent) is running in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 9 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Roy Morales (Independent) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 9
Earnest Clayton (D) and Terry Virts (D) are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 9 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Earnest Clayton | |
 | Terry Virts | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 9
The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 9 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Jaimy Annette Zoboulikos-Blanco | |
 | Alexandria Butler | |
 | Briscoe Cain | |
| Peter Emmert | ||
 | Alex Mealer | |
 | Dan Mims | |
 | Dwayne Stovall | |
| Terry Lee Thain | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Deddrick Wilmer (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
U.S. Senate
See also: United States Senate election in Texas, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on March 3, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
General election for U.S. Senate Texas
Joshua Cain (Independent), Camencia Ford (Independent), Jade Simmons (Independent), and Hans Truelson (Independent) are running in the general election for U.S. Senate Texas on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Joshua Cain (Independent) | ||
| Camencia Ford (Independent) | ||
 | Jade Simmons (Independent) | |
 | Hans Truelson (Independent) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Texas
Colin Allred (D), Emily Morgul (D), Michael Swanson (D), James Talarico (D), and Paula Williams (D) are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Texas on March 3, 2026.
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Terry Virts (D)
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Texas
The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Texas on March 3, 2026.
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Keith Allen (R)
- Barrett McNabb (R)
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.[9] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."[10] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.
Below we provide results for polls from a wide variety of sources, including media outlets, social media, campaigns, and aggregation websites, when available. We only report polls for which we can find a margin of error or credibility interval. Know of something we're missing? Click here to let us know.
| Poll | Dates | Allred | Morgul | Swanson | Talarico | Virts | Other | Undecided | Sample size | Margin of error | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs NoteHypothetical four-way matchup between Allred, Talarico, Jasmine Crockett (D), and Beto O'Rourke (D). "Other" includes results for Crockett (31%) and O'Rourke (25%). | – | 13 | -- | -- | 25 | -- | 56 | 6 | 478 RV | ± 4.5% | N/A |
– | 58 | 4 | 3 | -- | 1 | -- | 34 | 370 RV | ± 5.1% | N/A | |
Texas Southern University (includes Castro) NoteHypothetical matchup between Allred and Joaquin Castro (D). "Other" includes results for Castro. | – | 52 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 41 | 7 | 1,500 LV | ± 2.5% | N/A |
Texas Southern University (includes O'Rourke) NoteHypothetical matchup between Allred and Beto O'Rourke (D). "Other" includes results for O'Rourke. | – | 38 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 58 | 4 | 1,500 LV | ± 2.5% | N/A |
Texas Southern University (includes Talarico) NoteHypothetical two-way matchup between Allred and Talarico. | – | 50 | -- | -- | 43 | -- | -- | 7 | 1,500 LV | ± 2.5% | N/A |
| Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters. | |||||||||||
Candidate spending
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colin Allred | Democratic Party | $4,933,179 | $3,142,537 | $1,790,641 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Emily Morgul | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Michael Swanson | Democratic Party | $6,991 | $6,991 | $0 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| James Talarico | Democratic Party | $6,268,610 | $1,309,971 | $4,958,638 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Paula Williams | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[11][12][13]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
| By candidate | By election |
|---|---|
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
Campaign themes
2026
U.S. House District 9
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released November 6, 2025 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Terry Virts completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Virts' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- Affordability: from healthcare, to groceries, to housing, life has become too expensive for all but the wealthiest Americans. Terry will fight to help bring down costs. He will do this by opposing Trump's excessive tariffs, supporting fair wages and good working conditions, promoting an all-of-the-above energy policy, and reducing overregulation. Terry also supports healthcare reforms, such as subsidizing preventative cancer screenings and expanding ACA subsidies.
- Common Sense Immigration: Terry supports a strong border policy that maintains control over who comes in the country. At the same time, he also supports treating immigrants with dignity and respect. He supports limiting ICE to focusing its efforts on gang/criminal activity. For undocumented immigrants who have held a job, paid taxes and followed the law, Terry supports a guest worker program that can fill in labor shortages.
- Restoring Democracy: Terry is a strong supporter of democracy, and believes a number of reforms can strengthen our country. This includes introducing term limits for Congress and the Supreme Court, getting money out of politics, bringing the President's powers back under control, outlawing gerrymandering, and banning insider stock trading. Terry also supports releasing the Epstein files and holding those who committed crimes accountable.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
U.S. Senate
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Terry Virts did not complete Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Texas District 9 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on November 10, 2025
- ↑ KXAN, "New poll: US Senate primary races in Texas are neck and neck," October 10, 2025
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Talarico outraises Allred with massive fundraising haul to kick off Senate Democratic primary," October 1, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 WFAA, "How does a Democrat strategist see the Texas Senate race unfolding after Talarico's entry?" September 16, 2025
- ↑ Axios, "Scoop: Colin Allred raises $4.1 million for Texas Senate bid," October 1, 2025
- ↑ Colin Allred campaign website, "Home page," accessed October 15, 2025
- ↑ Texas House of Representatives, "Rep. Talarico, James - Biography," accessed October 30, 2025
- ↑ Politico, "‘Bet it on the underdog’: Talarico officially enters the Texas Senate primary," September 9, 2025
- ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
