Texas' 9th Congressional District election, 2026
All U.S. House districts, including the 9th Congressional District of Texas, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. The primary was March 3, 2026, and a primary runoff is May 26, 2026. The filing deadline was December 8, 2025. The outcome of this race will affect the partisan balance of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 120th Congress. All 435 U.S. House districts are up for election.
Currently, Republicans have a 218-214 majority with three vacancies in the chamber.[1] To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here. For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:
- Texas' 9th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 3 Democratic primary)
- Texas' 9th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 3 Republican primary)
- Texas' 9th Congressional District election, 2026 (May 26 Republican primary runoff)
Candidates and election results
General election
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
The primary runoff will occur on May 26, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. Additional general election candidates will be added here following the primary runoff.
General election for U.S. House Texas District 9
Leticia Gutierrez and Roy Morales are running in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 9 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Leticia Gutierrez (D)  | |
 | 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. | ||||
Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 9
Briscoe Cain and Alex Mealer are running in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 9 on May 26, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Briscoe Cain | |
 | Alex Mealer | |
| ||||
| = 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 election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 9
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 9 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Leticia Gutierrez | 53.7 | 18,630 |
 | Earnest Clayton | 16.3 | 5,640 | |
 | Terry Virts | 14.5 | 5,044 | |
 | Todd Ivey | 7.0 | 2,440 | |
| Marty Rocha | 6.8 | 2,367 | ||
 | Peter Filler | 1.6 | 552 | |
| Total votes: 34,673 | |||
| = 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
- Al Green (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 9
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 9 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Alex Mealer | 36.6 | 8,431 |
| ✔ | | Briscoe Cain | 30.8 | 7,102 |
 | Steve Stockman | 16.9 | 3,884 | |
 | Dan Mims | 8.3 | 1,915 | |
 | Dwayne Stovall | 2.6 | 589 | |
 | Crystal Sarmiento | 2.0 | 458 | |
 | Jaimy Annette Zoboulikos-Blanco | 1.1 | 251 | |
| Terry Lee Thain | 0.9 | 208 | ||
 | Michael Curran | 0.9 | 198 | |
| Total votes: 23,036 | |||
| = 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)
- Alexandria Butler (R)
- Peter Emmert (R)
Candidate profiles
This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Texas
Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses
Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
Survey responses from candidates in this race
Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.
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.
| Collapse all
MAKING GOVERNMENT WORK FOR YOU:
My degree from the University of St. Thomas is in Finance and Economics. I am your candidate who can balance a check book and keeps up with the dollars and cents. Our government has been feeding subsidies to large corporations all while hardworking families foot the bill, and that needs to end.
KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON AND THE WATER RUNNING:
As someone who came to this country very young, I am passionate about ensuring that immigrants receive a fair shake and the due process that our nation promises.
For the last decade, I have brought community members and their concerns directly to their public officials. I am passionate about community input and government transparency.
Campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earnest Clayton | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Peter Filler | Democratic Party | $4,144 | $4,201 | $0 | As of March 5, 2026 |
| Leticia Gutierrez | Democratic Party | $18,423 | $10,111 | $8,312 | As of February 11, 2026 |
| Todd Ivey | Democratic Party | $168,026 | $72,714 | $95,313 | As of February 11, 2026 |
| Marty Rocha | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Terry Virts | Democratic Party | $621,047 | $576,158 | $44,889 | As of February 11, 2026 |
| Jaimy Annette Zoboulikos-Blanco | Republican Party | $112,049 | $109,941 | $3,126 | As of February 11, 2026 |
| Briscoe Cain | Republican Party | $274,020 | $7,516 | $266,504 | As of September 30, 2025 |
| Michael Curran | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Alex Mealer | Republican Party | $1,224,832 | $752,648 | $472,184 | As of February 11, 2026 |
| Dan Mims | Republican Party | $353,414 | $283,053 | $70,362 | As of February 11, 2026 |
| Crystal Sarmiento | Republican Party | $78,009 | $48,281 | $29,728 | As of February 11, 2026 |
| Steve Stockman | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Dwayne Stovall | Republican Party | $22,843 | $22,156 | $2,287 | As of February 11, 2026 |
| Terry Lee Thain | Republican Party | $5,250 | $3,397 | $1,859 | As of December 31, 2025 |
| Roy Morales | Independent | $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." |
|||||
General election race ratings
- See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:
- Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
- Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
- Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[2]
- Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.
Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[3][4][5]
| Race ratings: Texas' 9th Congressional District election, 2026 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| 3/17/2026 | 3/10/2026 | 3/3/2026 | 2/24/2026 | ||||||
| The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | |||||
| Decision Desk HQ and The Hill | Pending | Pending | Pending | Pending | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | |||||
| Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe Republican | Safe Republican | Safe Republican | Safe Republican | |||||
| Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week. | |||||||||
Ballot access
The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Texas in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Texas, click here.
| Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Office | Party | Signatures required | Filing fee | Filing deadline | Source |
| Texas | U.S. House | Democratic or Republican | 2% of votes cast for governor in the district in the last election, or 500, whichever is less | $3,125 | 12/8/2025 | Source |
| Texas | U.S. House | Unaffiliated | 5% of all votes cast for governor in the district in the last election, or 500, whichever is less | N/A | 12/8/2025 | Source |
Democratic-held U.S. House district that Trump won
This is one of 14 U.S. House districts Democrats are defending that Donald Trump (R) won in 2024. The map below highlights those districts. Hover over or click a district to see information such as the incumbent and the presidential vote counts.
District history
The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.
General election
General election for U.S. House Texas District 9
Incumbent Al Green (D) won election in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 9 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Al Green (D) | 100.0 | 184,141 |
| Total votes: 184,141 | |||
| = 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
Incumbent Al Green (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 9 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Al Green | 100.0 | 42,191 |
| Total votes: 42,191 | |||
| = 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
- Ifetayo Simmons (D)
Republican primary
The Republican primary scheduled for March 5, 2024, was canceled.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Andrew Alvarez (R)
General election
General election for U.S. House Texas District 9
Incumbent Al Green (D) defeated Jimmy Leon (R) in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 9 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Al Green (D) | 76.7 | 125,446 |
 | Jimmy Leon (R) | 23.3 | 38,161 | |
| Total votes: 163,607 | |||
| = 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
- Randall Addison (Independent)
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 9
Incumbent Al Green (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 9 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Al Green | 100.0 | 42,782 |
| Total votes: 42,782 | |||
| = 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
Jimmy Leon (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 9 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jimmy Leon | 100.0 | 10,503 |
| Total votes: 10,503 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
General election
General election for U.S. House Texas District 9
Incumbent Al Green (D) defeated Johnny Teague (R) and Jose Sosa (L) in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 9 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Al Green (D) | 75.5 | 172,938 |
 | Johnny Teague (R) | 21.6 | 49,575 | |
 | Jose Sosa (L) | 2.9 | 6,594 | |
| Total votes: 229,107 | |||
| = 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
- Edward Small Jr. (Unaffiliated)
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 9
Incumbent Al Green (D) defeated Melissa M. Wilson (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 9 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Al Green | 83.6 | 48,387 |
 | Melissa M. Wilson | 16.4 | 9,511 | |
| Total votes: 57,898 | |||
| = 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
Johnny Teague (R) defeated Jon Menefee (R) and Julian Martinez (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 9 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Johnny Teague | 58.7 | 6,149 |
 | Jon Menefee | 24.0 | 2,519 | |
 | Julian Martinez | 17.3 | 1,809 | |
| Total votes: 10,477 | |||
| = 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
- Al Austin (R)
Libertarian Party convention
Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 9
Jose Sosa (L) advanced from the Libertarian Party convention for U.S. House Texas District 9 on March 21, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Jose Sosa |
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
District analysis
Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.
- District map - A map of the district before and after redistricting ahead of the 2026 election.
- Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 U.S. House elections in the state.
- Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
- State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
Below is the district map used in the 2024 election next to the map in place for the 2026 election. Click on a map below to enlarge it.
2024
2026
This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Texas.
Post-filing deadline analysis
The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Texas in 2026. Information below was calculated on Dec. 8, 2025, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.
Two hundred fifty-two candidates — 98 Democrats and 154 Republicans — ran for Texas’ 38 U.S. House districts. That’s 6.6 candidates per district. There were 4.2 candidates per district in 2024, 5.8 in 2022, 6.4 in 2020, 5.9 in 2018, 3.5 in 2016, and 2.8 in 2014.
These were the first elections to take place since the Texas Legislature passed a new congressional map. The Texas House of Representatives passed it on Aug. 20, 2025, and the Texas Senate passed it on Aug. 23, 2025. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed the new congressional map into law on Aug. 29, 2025.
This was the highest total number of candidates who ran for the U.S. House since 2014.
Ten districts were open in 2026. There were three districts open in 2024, six in 2022, six in 2020, eight in 2018, two in 2016, and one in 2014.
Reps. Morgan Luttrell (R-8th), Michael McCaul (R-10th), Jodey Arrington (R-19th), Troy Nehls (R-22nd), Marc Veasey (D-33rd), and Lloyd Doggett (D-37th) retired from public office. Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-30th) and Wesley Hunt (R-38th) ran for the U.S. Senate. Rep. Chip Roy (R-21st) ran for attorney general of Texas.
Two incumbents — Reps. Christian Menefee (D) and Al Green (D) — ran against each other in the redrawn 18th district. Menefee was the incumbent in the 18th district, and Green was the incumbent in the 9th district.
Fifty-nine primaries — 32 Democratic and 28 Republican — were contested in 2026. In total, there were 39 contested primaries in 2024, 44 in 2022, 50 in 2020, 46 in 2018, 33 in 2016, and 19 in 2014.
Fifteen candidates ran for the open 9th district, 21st district, and 35th district, tying for the most candidates running for a district in 2026.
Nineteen incumbents — eight Democrats and 11 Republicans — faced primary challengers in 2026. There were 19 incumbents in a contested primary in 2024, 19 in 2022, 18 in 2020, 15 in 2018, 19 in 2016, and 12 in 2014.
Candidates filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all 38 districts, meaning no districts were guaranteed to either party.Partisan Voter Index
Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+24. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 24 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Texas' 9th the 39th most Democratic district nationally.[6]
2020 presidential election results
The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.
Kamala Harris  | Donald Trump  |
|---|---|
| 46.6% | 51.6% |
Presidential voting history
- See also: Presidential election in Texas, 2024
Texas presidential election results (1900-2024)
- 16 Democratic wins
- 15 Republican wins
| Year | 1900 | 1904 | 1908 | 1912 | 1916 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1940 | 1944 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winning Party | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | D | D | D | R | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
- See also: Party control of Texas state government
Congressional delegation
The table below displays the partisan composition of Texas' congressional delegation as of February 2026.
| Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Texas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Total |
| Democratic | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Republican | 2 | 25 | 27 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vacancies | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 38 | 40 |
State executive
The table below displays the officeholders in Texas' top four state executive offices as of October 2025.
| Office | Officeholder |
|---|---|
| Governor | Greg Abbott |
| Lieutenant Governor | Dan Patrick |
| Secretary of State | Jane Nelson |
| Attorney General | Ken Paxton |
State legislature
Texas State Senate
| Party | As of October 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 11 | |
| Republican Party | 18 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 2 | |
| Total | 31 | |
Texas House of Representatives
| Party | As of October 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 62 | |
| Republican Party | 88 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 150 | |
Trifecta control
Texas Party Control: 1992-2025
Three years of Democratic trifectas • Twenty-three years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ A majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, when there are no vacancies, is 218 seats.
- ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)," accessed July 1, 2025
