While that political lean didn\u2019t change much with redistricting, the new maps<\/a> did expand the district\u2019s reach into blue Bexar County, where even conservatives agree the role of a Republican official is much different than out in more rural territory. <\/p>\n Earlier that day, many of the county\u2019s GOP leaders and candidates were at a San Antonio City Council meeting lobbying for more coordination between local law enforcement and ICE \u2014 a perspective met with boos so loud that Bexar County\u2019s lone Republican commissioner Grant Moody (Pct. 3)<\/a> could hardly make his comments.<\/p>\n \u201cFighting over whether they want to support ICE or not \u2014 that\u2019s a metropolitan issue,\u201d former Bexar GOP Vice Chair Kyle Sinclair<\/a>, who is now among the dozen candidates running for the GOP nomination on the March 3 primary ballot, said during the debate later that night.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to go from the Hill Country area to focusing on a metropolitan city and the major issues that you deal with \u2014 from the Tren de Aragua<\/a> gang, to human trafficking, to drug trafficking, to police issues, to crime,\u201d he told the audience of roughly 150 people at Norris Conference Center near the North Star Mall.<\/p>\n The last San Antonian to represent the district was Lamar Smith,<\/a> a pragmatic Republican attorney who served three decades before retiring amid a changing party makeup in 2018.<\/p>\n Since then the district\u2019s boundaries have been drawn much redder, and Roy would go on to carve a very different reputation, holding fellow Republicans\u2019 feet to the fire on conservative priorities like debt management and border security \u2014 occasionally annoying GOP colleagues left to answer for their party\u2019s policies in less conservative territory.<\/p>\n Now Roy is running for Texas Attorney General<\/a> instead of reelection, and most of the candidates hoping to replace him are following his playbook.<\/p>\n They spent the roughly two-hour debate focused on the shortcomings of a Republican-controlled Congress they argued has failed to rein in spending and do enough to support President Donald Trump\u2019s economic and border policies, with relatively little mention of the Democrats who control zero levers of power at the state and federal levels.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to stop wasting our time on crazy liberals and start talking to our own congressman, our own fellow members in Congress, and say, \u2018Why are we voting for bad bills? Why are we voting for runaway spending?’\u201d said Mark Teixeira<\/a>, a former Major League Baseball player who has become the biggest spender in the race.<\/p>\n The crowded GOP primary is likely to\u00a0advance to a May 26 runoff<\/a>\u00a0between the top two vote-takers, since the winner must have at least 50% of the vote.<\/p>\n Stacked resumes <\/p>\n In a year where both parties operatives say they\u2019ve struggled to recruit candidates, the opening in Roy\u2019s district has drawn a surprising number of contenders with impressive resumes \u2014 from successful entrepreneurs, to party leadership experience, to federal appointees in the Trump Administration.<\/p>\n Trey Trainor<\/a>, for example, is an election attorney from Dripping Springs who served as general counsel to many Texas Republicans. He was also a special assistant to the Secretary of Defense and twice chaired the Federal Election Commission, as well as promoted the idea that Trump actually won the 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking at how money is spent in politics, where money is invested in politics and politics, \u2026 you\u2019ve got to have transparency in the process,\u201d Trainor told the audience Thursday. \u201cAs somebody who\u2019s dealt with the federal campaign finance system, dealt with filing ethics reports and making sure that everybody else in the government gets them done correctly, I\u2019m the right guy to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Financial analyst Michael Wheeler<\/a> lived all over the world working for J.P. Morgan, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley before moving to Texas in 2019. He\u2019s since chaired the Kendall County Republican Party and served as Trump\u2019s appointee to the Small Business Administration.<\/p>\n \u201cWe talked about a lot of issues tonight, but we can\u2019t deal with immigration, we can\u2019t deal with Greenland, we can\u2019t deal with any of this stuff until we deal with this [national] debt,\u201d Wheeler said at the debate. \u201cPlease send somebody to Washington to finally deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Software engineer Paul Rojas<\/a> worked on a team that discovered water on the moon and then built a firearms company that supplies weapons to the U.S. military.<\/p>\n U.S. Navy veteran Jason Cahill<\/a> was an intelligence asset in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and went on to build his own oil and gas company in Boerne. <\/p>\n Meanwhile Heather Tessmer<\/a> took her degree from St. Mary\u2019s law school on to build the firm, Tessmer Law Firm, PLLC.,with regional recognition, known for its \u201cEver argue with a woman?\u201d billboards.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t believe it when I look at the impressive group of people who stepped up for this office,\u201d Bexar County Republican Party Chair Kris Coons remarked to the crowd on Thursday night.<\/p>\n Yet the candidate who has sucked up most of the oxygen in the race is Teixeira, despite only moving to Texas several years ago and having very little prior involvement in Republican politics.<\/p>\n On Thursday he told the audience he\u2019d been blessed with a successful career in baseball, but that his faith called on him to do something more. He likened his candidacy to Trump\u2019s in that they both had enough money and fame that they didn\u2019t need to run for office \u2014 they did so to make a difference.<\/p>\n \u201c[Trump] went to Washington, D.C. as an outsider. He had already been successful. He was already rich and powerful and famous,\u201d Teixeira said. \u201c\u2026 I feel like President Trump and I have a lot in common.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, volunteers opposing Teixeira were approaching attendees on their way out to talk about his recent move to Texas and his lack of Republican voting history \u2014 an opposition tactic rarely seen in such rooms.<\/p>\n One even distributed flyers highlighting his past comments about athletes needing to become more vocal<\/a> about stopping climate change, and connections to a charter school that promoted its DEI policies.<\/p>\n \u201cReplacing Chip Roy with someone who is not who they claim to be is not something that I think that this district will do if we are properly informed,\u201d candidate Daniel Betts<\/a>, a criminal defense attorney from Dripping Springs, said during the debate.<\/p>\n A focus on San Antonio<\/p>\n Before Republicans\u2019 mid-cycle redistricting effort, Texas\u2019 21st Congressional District stretched all the way north to Austin.<\/p>\n Under new maps that part is gone, creating a more San Antonio-centric district that\u2019s drawing unusual attention to this area in the final stretch. <\/p>\n \u201cNot having Austin in this district \u2026 we really have to focus on what\u2019s going on in San Antonio, because it\u2019s now the major population base in the district,\u201d Trainor said in an interview after the debate.<\/p>\n Indeed, many candidates used their time Thursday to stress their connections to San Antonio as well as their understanding of its political landscape.<\/p>\n Rojas described growing up in a military family on San Antonio\u2019s South Side and going on to receive degrees in physics and software engineering at St. Mary\u2019s University. Tessmer talked about building her law firm here before moving out to the Hill Country when the courts shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n Northside businessman Weston Martinez<\/a> touted an endorsement from former conservative Councilman Clayton Perry (D10), and talked about how his decades of experience with San Antonio\u2019s local policymakers shaped his ability to navigate the ICE discussion at City Hall.<\/p>\n \u201cI went straight up to the city manager to ask him a question \u2026 Then I went up to two council members \u2026 and then I went up to the city attorney to present the same thing,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cWhy? Because I have those relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile Sinclair, who currently lives in U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales\u2019 (R-San Antonio) district, said the 21st needed someone rooted in Bexar County, and that his background as a hospital executive made him the one with relevant experience to the most pressing issues on Congress\u2019 plate.<\/p>\n \u201cBexar County covers 17% of District 21,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople don\u2019t understand, that\u2019s 338,000 constituents.\u201d<\/p>\n Congressional candidates don\u2019t have to reside in the districts they represent, but Sinclair is among a handful of candidates taking heat for that fact.<\/p>\n Teixeira\u2019s home Bee Cave wasn\u2019t in TX21 under the old or new boundaries. Meanwhile Trainor, who was considering running for AG before Roy jumped into that race, was cut out when the Supreme Court OKed the new maps in December.<\/p>\n Multiple candidates sought to call attention to the issue Thursday night by asking for a show of hands on who lives in the district and building it into their responses to the moderator.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you are running for this seat and you don\u2019t live in District 21, you are running for yourself,\u201d said Betts. \u201cYou\u2019re not running for the people that you should represent.\u201d<\/p>\n Working across the aisle<\/p>\n In a county with far more Democrats than Republicans, Coons has long stressed the challenge of finding candidates who can sell their party\u2019s ideas to a broader audience. <\/p>\n On Thursday night she tossed them questions to test that ability \u2014 delivering some mixed results from a group for which the biggest hurdle is still getting through a GOP primary.<\/p>\n Cahill, for example, fielded a question about how he\u2019d talk to people who fear the overturning of Roe v. Wade is killing women with ectopic pregnancies.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d go with Charlie Kirk, he was the biggest advocate of life \u2026 and there is [rarely an] instance in which you cannot bring a baby to term,\u201d he said \u2014 before adding his experience running a business had taught him to work with people of all beliefs and backgrounds.<\/p>\n Former Boerne Councilman Jacques DuBose<\/a> got one about collaborating with local officials to deliver for his district, and said that as a Navy veteran and former councilman, he understood how critical it would be to work together on protecting the area\u2019s military installments. <\/p>\n \u201cBeing connected, being available, working with those elected officials \u2014 it might be challenging in some of the blue cities or where you have a liberal mayor,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I would still collaborate and hear them out.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile Wheeler was asked whether the U.S. should separate families during immigration enforcement \u2014 something Coons joked was to prepare him for when he\u2019s interviewed by The New York Times.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you came into the country illegally, the law is the law,\u201d Wheeler said. \u201cI\u2019m sorry this has happened. You know who started this? Obama. He\u2019s the one that started separating the families, right? But the law is a law, and I\u2019m sorry, this is a human catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n Two other Republican candidates, Zeke Enriquez<\/a> and Peggy McCormick Wardlaw<\/a> were unable to attend. <\/p>\n Early voting for the primary starts Feb. 17. Find out what congressional district you live in here<\/a>. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CityCouncilSpecialSession_SAPDCooperationICE_ImmigrationEnforcement_07_01.22.2026_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
Citizens fill the City Council chambers, waiting to participate in a special session to discuss SAPD\u2019s cooperation with federal agents on immigration enforcement on Jan. 22, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TexasCongressional_District21_RepublicanForum_10_01.22.2026_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
Michael Wheeler, a former adviser to the Small Business Administration, speaks at a TX21 debate hosted by the Republican Party of Bexar County at the Norris Event Center Thursday night. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TexasCongressional_District21_RepublicanForum_07_01.22.2026_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
U.S. Navy veteran Jason Cahill speaks at a TX21 debate hosted by the Republican Party of Bexar County at the Norris Event Center Thursday night. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TexasCongressional_District21_RepublicanForum_14_01.22.2026_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
Attorney Heather Tessmer speaks at a TX21 debate hosted by the Republican Party of Bexar County at the Norris Event Center Thursday night. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TexasCongressional_District21_RepublicanForum_01_01.22.2026_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
Former FEC Chair Trey Trainor speaks at a TX21 debate hosted by the Republican Party of Bexar County at the Norris Event Center Thursday night. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TexasCongressional_District21_RepublicanForum_17_01.22.2026_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
Kyle Sinclair, a health care executive who served as the vice chair of the Bexar GOP, speaks at a TX21 debate hosted by the Republican Party of Bexar County at the Norris Event Center Thursday night. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TexasCongressional_District21_RepublicanForum_23_01.22.2026_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
Weston Martinez, a businessman on San Antonio\u2019s Northside, speaks at a TX21 debate hosted by the Republican Party of Bexar County. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TexasCongressional_District21_RepublicanForum_16_01.22.2026_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
Republican Party of Bexar County Chair Kris Coons moderates a TX21 debate at the Norris Event Center Thursday night. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n