August Pfluger and Claire Reynolds will face off in the 2026 campaign as they fight to represent Texas’ 11th Congressional District.
MRT
“there is more work to be done, especially on unleashing American energy,” Republican August Pfluger says.
August Pfluger, Courtesy of Bethany Holden
“I want to make Congress do the job that it is supposed to do,” Democrat Claire Reynolds says.
Claire ReynoldsAugust Pfluger, Courtesy of Bethany Holden
Claire Reynolds
August Pfluger, Courtesy of Bethany Holden
Claire Reynolds
Claire Reynolds
August Pfluger, Courtesy of Bethany Holden
Claire Reynolds
August Pfluger, Courtesy of Bethany Holden
The 2026 election cycle has started to heat up, with the primary runoff election having just concluded on Tuesday, May 26. As the year progresses, among the most notable elections for the Permian Basin is the race for Texas’ 11th Congressional District between Republican incumbent August Pfluger and Democratic challenger Claire Reynolds.
Ahead of the election, the Reporter-Telegram sat down with each candidate and asked them the same seven questions to give readers a sense of each candidate. These interviews were conducted separately, and their responses were recorded word for word and placed together.
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MRT: Tell me about your experiences living here in Texas.
Reynolds: I moved to Texas almost 20 years ago. I have lived here longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, so this is my home. I’ve raised my kids here, I met my husband here. I love this state, absolutely.
Pfluger: Well, I don’t just live here, I’m from here. And I’m so blessed to be a 7th generation Texan that was raised right here in West Texas, grew up in San Angelo, and really raised by a community of people that my family has interacted with for over 150 years in this area, and proud to be from a ranching family, learned a lot of hard work, and a lot of lessons from growing up in a ranching family. And I think those lessons really shaped who I am. But also, you know, just coming off of Memorial Day, I was raised by people who served in the military, people who knew that this country was worth fighting for, that it was worth serving, that service before self was something that our community did, whether it was in the military or in your community, that the community and the country and the bigger picture of being an American was more important than any one person, and that we all had a part to play in that. And really, I’ve lived all over the world as an active-duty military airman and commander and have been very fortunate in that career to have been stationed in a lot of different places. But there is nowhere like West Texas. This is a very, very special place, and to be able to be raised here by a community that teaches you service before self, the value of hard work, and really, I think, gets it right. What an incredible blessing to be a 7th generation Texan, to be a Texan, and to have not just moved in here recently, but to have lived here and been, you know, born and raised here.
MRT: How were your political views shaped?
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Reynolds: Everything that I am is because of my parents. I grew up in a rural part of Illinois, literally had a cornfield as my backyard. And I was raised in a solidly, like, middle-class family. My mom was a teacher, my dad was in sales, and sometimes, things were great financially, other times it was tight. But one thing that I always learned from my parents, that they wanted to make sure they instilled in me, was that when you see someone causing another person harm, you stand up and you speak out, even when it’s hard.
Pfluger: Well, they were shaped by growing up in West Texas. They were shaped by the values of the community that I now get to represent. They were shaped by my family and friends and coaches and teachers and community here to work hard, to put others first, to be a servant leader, and really to do the right thing. And they were shaped by a community that believes in family. And unfortunately, we’re in a very difficult time right now because there are two parties, one which believes very, very strongly in the value of the family, that the family is the strongest asset that our country has. And unfortunately, the Democrat Party doesn’t believe that, that they, in every piece of legislation and policy, seem to be attempting to tear down the family. And my political views have started with that real sacred view of the family. And everything stems from that. And you can see that in my legislative work. You can see it in what we do in the communities with regards to all of the outreach that our office does, the six different offices that we have. So those views were very strongly shaped by a community who believes in family, believes in a strong country, and loves this country. That is probably the most important thing is – my political views were shaped by people who love being Americans. They are so blessed and feel so fortunate to be an American because they know that this is the greatest country that has ever existed in this world. And I believe that. And to get to represent a district where I get to talk with people every single day and share my beliefs of why this is the greatest country — although not perfect, and we are striving to be a more perfect union, but we love this country. And again, the contrast between the two parties, the Republican Party is full of people who love this country, who want to make it better. And it seems that the Democrat Party, unfortunately, spends a lot of time tearing down this country. And I think that’s wasted effort.
MRT: What motivated you to run in 2026?
Reynolds: It was exactly (my shaped political views). I had been working at the State Bar of Texas in the Chief Disciplinary Counsel’s Office, and there I was in the office, and we prosecuted attorney misconduct — so you know, not always very popular with other attorneys, because we’re holding the other attorneys accountable, and I saw my own government not being held accountable for some pretty awful things that it was doing, and I decided that it was time for me to step up. I found out that if I was going to run for office, I was going to have to quit my job. That was a really tough decision, because I loved my job. But I love my country more.
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Pfluger: Well, I’ll be running for my 4th term, and I will tell you that (it is) the honor of representing the best congressional district in the country, and I don’t say that lightly, it truly is. And all of my colleagues in Washington, D.C. have a jealousy towards the district that I get to represent. And I mean that because we are doing things of national security importance. Number one, the Permian Basin is responsible as the largest secure supply of oil and gas in the entire world. That alone puts us on the geopolitical map, everybody knows where the Permian Basin is, and I’ve done everything I can to be the chief cheerleader for the district, to bring dozens upon dozens of my colleagues from all over the country, Republicans and Democrats at times, to the Permian Basin to educate them on what we do. And to be able to represent the energy capital of the world is a huge honor, but also the agriculture side of it. I’m running again to stand up for our farmers and ranchers, who are providing the food and the fiber, not just for our country, but also for our partners and allies around the world. And lastly, getting the opportunity to represent Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo and parts of Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, where these airmen, soldiers, sailors, Marines and Guardians right now, today, at this very moment, are keeping us safe. And as a veteran myself, I know exactly what that means. And to represent the energy capital of the world, agriculture, and a military aspect, these are national security level issues. And they’re so important. And I’m running again because there’s more work to be done to right the ship from four years of President Biden’s disastrous administration, where we want to seek peace through strength, not through weakness and not through apologizing, but through strength. And we don’t want to tear the fossil fuel industry down, as President Biden campaigned on. And he did everything he could to destroy the fossil fuel industry, to destroy the Permian Basin. And I am fighting to right that wrong and to stand up for Midland and Odessa and the rest of the Permian Basin because there is more work to be done.
MRT: What is the primary platform you hope to base a potential term in office around?
Reynolds: The number one issue that is immediately facing everybody is that everything is incredibly expensive right now, and it’s going up. You know, there are a lot of people in this district who can, who are worried about being able to put food on the table and how to pay the rent. Everything is getting more expensive. I believe that that is due to some of the mistaken policies by our current government, so that is something that’s super important to me. In the, in the bigger (picture, or) more abstract term, I want to make Congress do the job that it is supposed to do, which is to act as a check against abuses of authority by the executive branch, and also I want to get in there and do the job that I did at the state bar, which is root out corruption and hold people accountable for, you know, breaking the law.
Pfluger: Well, it revolves around representing the Permian Basin and agriculture (and) representing the military. And I’m going to continue to do that. When I was elected in 2020, I made a promise to voters that I would champion this district, that I would go to Washington, D.C., and that I would fight for the issues that our district does so well. And so, I will continue to do that. And there is more work to be done, especially on unleashing American energy, making it more predictable and the environment better with less red tape and less bureaucracy. And there’s more work for us to do on that. But secondly, we’re finding out after President Biden and his disastrous administration let 10 million illegal aliens into this country, they opened the floodgates to illegal immigrants. And we’re finding out that that is completely disastrous. It’s untenable. So, getting to the point where we have respect for rule of law and we don’t have the fraudulent schemes that we are now seeing in places like Minnesota and California and all over the country, especially in blue cities and blue states, has to be a cornerstone and a centerpiece of the next term in office. As the chairman of the Republican Study Committee — which by the way, I lead the largest committee in Congress, I was elected by my peers to lead the largest committee in Congress — I have been the chief architect of making sure that we get rid of the fraud, that we return money back to the American taxpayers, and that we audit what has been happening in many places like Los Angeles, where they had 400 hospice businesses, with only maybe 8 to 10 of them being legitimate, defrauding the government of billions of dollars. Americans want transparency. They want to know that their government is accountable, and that has to be a cornerstone of the next term in Congress for me and my colleagues.
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MRT: How do you believe your opponent does not, or cannot, live up to the duties of a United States representative?
Reynolds: When I met him, he was very gracious, and I appreciated that, so my criticism of him is not as a human being, but as of a congressman. He has done nothing but act as a rubber stamp or a cheerleader for Trump’s policies since he, since Trump came into the office, (and) some of those policies have been hurting people in District 11. That kind of thing really disturbs me, because I believe that your loyalty should be to the people in your district and your state and your country over that of your party, and in my opinion, he is very, very good at repeating Republican talking points, but has failed to speak out. To be honest, if he were like the old school type of conservative Republican that we used to see, I don’t think I would have run. I mean, I didn’t really want to run for office, I wanted to keep my job and be able to be around for my family, but he’s not. I also believe that he is — the oil and gas industry is incredibly important to the Permian Basin, and I respect that. However, he owns stock in companies that he writes legislation for, and those are the same people that are his donors. That is legal, (but) I don’t believe that that is right. One of the things that I want to do when I get to Congress is ban stock trading for sitting members of Congress — and yes, that includes Nancy Pelosi — for everybody (and) anybody who’s doing it. I think I think it’s wrong. And I also want to make sure that the work that I do benefits everybody up and down the wealth spectrum, not just my wealthy donors. Actually, I don’t even have any wealthy donors, so that’s not gonna be a problem.
Pfluger: Well, I love the fact that our system allows for communities, congressional districts and the electorate to have a say. And this is the only form of governance in the world; as we approach 250 years ago that took that step into being governed of, by, and for the people. So, I love the fact that we have that tradition. And as we approach 250 years, we’re going to continue to provide that optimism. And I’m going to continue to do everything I can to provide that optimism. But I’ll just draw you to a couple of things that I’ve mentioned already during this interview. Number one, political parties are not perfect, but when you look at the contrast between the Democrat Party and the Republican Party, the Democrat Party championed men (trans women) playing women’s sports. The Democrat Party championed defunding the police and not wanting to fund our national security apparatus like the military. The Democrat Party wanted to kill the fossil fuel industry. And I’ll quote candidate Biden in 2019, where he said, ‘I will kill the fossil fuel industry’. That’s what the Democrat Party stands for. And they also seem to be so interested in tearing down our country. I love this flag behind me and the Republican Party as a happy warrior. We want to champion this country. We want it to be better. We’re not afraid to look at policies that we say, okay, we can make those better and we can continue to find solutions. As chairman of the Republican Study Committee, I’ve done exactly that. I bring solutions that help my district and that also help our country. I think we get it right in West Texas. That’s why we have so many people moving to Texas from places like California. They are escaping what the Democrat Party has done to their state. They’ve destroyed places like California. What the Republican Party is doing is standing up for a strong country, a strong economy. We’re standing up for families where the Democrat Party would tear them down. And I’m proud to be associated with it. But I think first and foremost, I will continue to represent my district. The district where I grew up, where I was raised, where my family lives, where my friends still live, and where I absolutely love being. There’s no better place than being right here in Texas 11, in the place that I grew up.
MRT: Have you been speaking with other representatives or potential candidates to support your candidacy or lend support to theirs?
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Reynolds: Honestly, I am not super interested in trying to gain endorsements from sitting congresspeople, or you know, try to curry favor with anybody who’s already in Washington. I have been forming really good relationships with the down-ballot Democratic candidates in District 11, like I’ve been working really closely with Shiloh Salazar who’s running in HD 72 against Drew Darby (as well as) Riley Rodriguez (and) Cathy Broadrick. These are people that I feel like are not necessarily getting enough attention, because they’re smart, they care about their district, and I’m really hoping that I can draw attention to them in whatever way, because it’s really time that we stop looking at whatever letter you have after your name, is it a D or is it an R, and let’s start looking at who people are as human beings, and all three of those people are great human beings.
Pfluger: Absolutely. I made a promise to the voters of Texas 11 in 2020 when I was elected that I would go to Washington, D.C. and that I would build a team of people that would support the same district that I represent and the ideas and the values that I represent. And that’s exactly what we’ve done with our political team. I’m proud to have endorsed Mark Teixeira, who is the nominee for (the 21st) congressional district, a baseball player who didn’t have to do this, but loves this country just like I do, loves this flag just like I do, is selfless and humble, is credible and approachable as somebody who I believe is going to bring a new dynamic to the Republican Party to say, you can be a celebrity or an athlete or you can do other things in your career, but you can also serve your country. And that’s what Mark wants to do. I was impressed when I first met him because his heart was a servant leader’s heart. And I could tell that his work ethic was going to fit right in with mine and with so many people that I get a chance to serve with. And (District 8 nominee) Jessica Steinman is another person, very sharp, very bright, knows exactly what it means to fulfill what I think the mandate that our president has been given, which is to right the ship and to get rid of the fraud and to make our country stronger. She’s an attorney who has a great work ethic, and I would put her in the same category as Mark, as somebody who’s humble, who listens, who asks questions. And my job is to go out and endorse people like that as I build a team that knows my district and that believes in my district and that believes in the values that I also believe in, because we are thoughtful, reasonable, governing members of Congress. You may not see us always on TV or making outlandish statements, but we’re going to stand up for what is right. We’re going to bring a solution to the table, and we’re going to further this great country into the next 250 years of success because we don’t believe in saying those bombastic type things just to get a click on social media. We actually believe in going to Washington, D.C. and governing. And those are the types of people who I endorse and want on my team.
MRT: What would you like to say to the people of America, especially ahead of the 250th anniversary of the country?
Reynolds: Wow, I love that question, and it sounds … I have a tendency to get a little bit sentimental and cheesy sometimes, but I’m kind of glad that I do, because I think it’s needed, and I’m a firm believer, you know — I originated from the land of Lincoln, so Abraham Lincoln is one of my heroes, and he’s always, from the Gettysburg Address: “This is a government by the people, by the people, and for the people.” I want Americans to remember that we’re the people, this is our government, it should be working for us. If it’s not, then we need to stop rewarding the people in office by continuing to elect them to office. Like, this is our government, this is our country. If we don’t do something about it, about the problems that we’re seeing right now, we have only ourselves to blame.
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Pfluger: What an awesome opportunity it is to be American. This is the greatest country on earth. I believe in this country, even though we have gone through ups and downs and political divisiveness at times, this is still the greatest country on earth. And this experiment is 250 years old now, where our founding fathers believed so much in it, they knew that if we unified and we came together and united, that we could push back against imperfect forms of government, that we could govern ourselves. And it’s an honor of a lifetime to represent the district where I grew up, that raised me and where my friends and family are. And as we approach 250 years, I hope that everybody will just take a moment and put aside political differences and really count our blessings for being American, for being able to live the American dream and grow up here. You know, I served overseas in places like Iraq and Syria, and it’s heartbreaking to think about the people who live in those countries who don’t get to live out that dream of being free, that we hold these truths to be self-evident, so important to ourselves that we were willing 250 years ago to actually have a revolution and to fight for those truths, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that we were so dedicated to that principle, and we still are. And 250 years later, although not perfect, we’re striving for a more perfect union. And I hope everybody will take the time as we approach July 4th to really thank God for being American, for living in a country that allows us to worship freely, to live out your dreams, and to be in a country that gives you every opportunity that you would ever want.
The 2026 elections for the United States House of Representatives are scheduled to take place on November 3. Both Pfluger and Reynolds answered additional questions directed toward them as individuals, which will be reserved for separate articles.