Texas Rep. Troy Nehls introduced over the weekend that he received’t search reelection subsequent yr, changing into the sixth Republican in Texas’ congressional delegation to bow out this cycle, and including to the regular churn inside a celebration nonetheless struggling to navigate the Trump period.
The timing raised eyebrows. Nehls revealed his choice lower than 10 days earlier than the Dec. 8 submitting deadline, leaving virtually no room for an open contest.
However a successor emerged virtually immediately: his twin brother, Trever Nehls, who jumped into the race inside hours and pledged to “follow in Troy’s footsteps and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Trump.”
Troy and Trever Nehls
“I know this district. And, this district knows me,” Trever wrote in a submit to social media, casting himself because the pure inheritor to his brother’s “America First” politics.
It’s an aggressive pitch for a candidate who hasn’t received workplace lately. Trever, a former Fort Bend County constable, narrowly misplaced a 2020 sheriff’s race and got here up quick once more in 2022 when he ran for county decide. However with Troy stepping apart simply earlier than the deadline, the dual handoff provides him a structural benefit that few Republicans in aggressive primaries ever get pleasure from.
And Nehls isn’t the one Texas Republican heading for the exit. Along with his announcement, he joins 5 different GOP members of the state’s delegation who’ve already stated they received’t run once more in 2026. Two—Reps. Wesley Hunt and Chip Roy—are chasing increased workplace, working for the U.S. Senate and the lawyer common submit, respectively. The opposite three—Reps. Jodey Arrington, Morgan Luttrell, and Michael McCaul—have but to disclose what comes subsequent.
Rep. Wesley Hunt can be chasing increased workplace.
Taken collectively, it’s an unusually giant wave of exits from a state whose Republicans usually get pleasure from secure seats and lengthy tenures.
The districts they depart behind are additionally in flux. Texas’s congressional boundaries are tied up in court docket after a panel of federal judges blocked the state from utilizing a brand new GOP-gerrymandered map designed to squeeze out a number of extra Republican seats.
The Supreme Courtroom is predicted to rule quickly on whether or not the state can depend on these disputed strains whereas the case performs out. Below the proposed map, Nehls’ twenty second District would retain most of its present inhabitants whereas shifting additional into Harris County.
What stunned many Republicans was Nehls’ willingness to stroll away on the peak of President Donald Trump’s second time period. Nehls has constructed a lot of his identification round Trump, backing efforts to place the president’s face on the $100 invoice and rename the Dulles Worldwide Airport in his honor. He even wore Trump’s mug shot on a T-shirt.
Rep. Chip Roy plans to runs for Texas lawyer common.
Nehls stated he knowledgeable Trump of his plans earlier than going public. However in his retirement assertion, he framed the transfer as a private selection formed by conversations together with his household over Thanksgiving.
“Serving this country in the military, serving our community in law enforcement, and serving this district in Congress has been the honor of my life,” he stated. “Thank you for your trust, your friendship, and your prayers.”
Nehls is in his third time period representing the twenty second District, a deep-red seat anchored in Fort Bend and Brazoria counties with stretches of Harris, Matagorda, and Wharton counties.
He first received in 2020 with simply over 51% of the vote, then consolidated his maintain with greater than 62% in 2022 and 2024. He sits on the Home Judiciary Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the place he chairs the Subcommittee on Aviation.
Nonetheless, his time in Congress hasn’t been with out friction. He voted to overturn the 2020 election outcomes and was initially chosen to serve on the Jan. 6 committee, although then-Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy later pulled all Republican members. He’s additionally moved out and in of hard-right circles, leaving the Home Freedom Caucus final yr over what he referred to as philosophical variations.
And he’s weathered his share of controversies. In 2024, the Home Ethics Committee scrutinized his marketing campaign’s hire funds to an organization he owns. He sued the Capitol Police, alleging an improper search of his workplace; the swimsuit was dismissed.
Earlier this month, Nehls and the remainder of the Texas GOP delegation voted to pressure the discharge of Justice Division information associated to convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein—after Nehls beforehand argued in opposition to doing so. The pivot adopted Trump’s enchantment.
“If Donald Trump says ‘Jump three feet high and scratch your heads,’ we all jump three feet high and scratch our heads,” Nehls informed reporters final November, a line that has aged awkwardly in gentle of his current strikes.
Even with Nehls stepping apart, the district stays solidly Republican. Trump carried it by 59% in 2024 and 57% in 2020. Democrats may see a slim opening beneath present strains, however that might vanish if the state’s gerrymandered map goes into impact.
Nehls’ exit provides to the nervousness inside a convention already working with the slimmest of margins. Home Republicans will lose one other seat in January when Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resigns, and retirements proceed to mount on either side of the aisle.
For now, Nehls is just the most recent identify on a rising record of Republicans heading for the exit—an indication that loyalty to Trump doesn’t insulate anybody from the broader instability gripping the social gathering heading into 2026.
