{"id":69990,"date":"2025-11-29T22:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T22:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/69990\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T22:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T22:14:09","slug":"texas-seat-opens-up-as-republican-announces-he-wont-seek-reelection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/69990\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Seat Opens Up as Republican Announces He Won\u2019t Seek Reelection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Representative Troy Nehls, a Texas<\/a> Republican, announced Saturday that he will retire from the U.S. House at the end of his term, adding to a growing list of lawmakers who are planning on leaving office soon.<\/p>\n

Newsweek has reached out to Nehls\u2019 press team for comment via email on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Why It Matters<\/p>\n

The upcoming midterm elections are coming at a time when there have been several fissures in the Republican Party, most notably with the public fall out between President Donald Trump<\/a> and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/a> of Georgia. Their public spat has resulted in Greene announcing she will be leaving office in January before the end of her term. The average years of service for a House member in the 119th\u00a0Congress<\/a> is 8.6 years.<\/p>\n

Several other lawmakers have announced they will not be campaigning for reelection in 2026, including Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi<\/a> of California. Traditionally, the party that does not hold the White House\u00a0tends to perform better in the midterms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The announcements come as both parties push for redrawn congressional maps, seeking more favorable lines in hopes of gaining seats and securing a House majority. Republicans currently hold a narrow majority in the House, 219-213. <\/p>\n

What To Know<\/p>\n

In a Saturday announcement, Nehls, who represents Texas\u2019 22nd district, wrote: \u201cI have made the decision, after conversations with my beautiful bride and my girls over the Thanksgiving holiday, to focus on my family and return home after this Congress.\u201d Nehls has three daughters.<\/p>\n

The three-term congressman has spent more than three decades in law enforcement and the military, serving as a police officer, constable and sheriff, and in the Army Reserve. He serves on the House Judiciary committee, Transportation and Infrastructure committee, and is a member of the \u201cAnti-Woke\u201d Caucus.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

His statement continued: \u201cBefore making this decision, I\u00a0called President Trump personally\u00a0to let him know of my plans. President Trump has always been a strong ally for our district and a true friend, and I wanted him to hear it from me first.\u201d <\/p>\n

Nehls is a strong Trump ally and has been an advocate of Trump\u2019s illegal immigration crackdown along with other policies. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Loading twitter content…<\/p>\n

Concluding his announcement, the congressman said, \u201cServing this country in the military, serving our community in law enforcement, and serving this district in Congress has been the honor of my life. Thank you for your trust, your friendship, and your prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas\u2019 22nd District includes most of Fort Bend County and has been rated “Solid Republican” by the Cook Political Report. Iowa Colony Mayor Pro Tem Marquette Greene-Scott entered the race as a Democrat, per an FEC filing, and in a now-deleted Facebook post, Nehls twin brother, Trever, announced his candidacy on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Texas Republican colleagues Representatives Michael McCaul, Jodey Arrington, and Morgan Luttrell all announced earlier this fall they would not be seeking reelection.<\/p>\n

What People Are Saying<\/p>\n

Republicans Against Trump X account said in a Saturday post: “JUST IN: Texas Republican Rep. Troy Nehls, one of Trump\u2019s closest allies, says he won\u2019t seek reelection in 2026. He\u2019s the latest in a growing wave of GOP lawmakers retiring ahead of what many expect to be a devastating midterm.”<\/p>\n

Trever Nehls, Troy’s twin brother, said in a now-deleted Facebook post on Saturday, per Fox News and NBC News: “I am honored to announce my candidacy for Congressional District 22 to continue fighting for the people of this district. District 22 needs a Representative who will follow in Troy\u2019s footsteps and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President Trump to defend our conservative values, secure the border, protect our families, and oppose the reckless and radical agenda that Democrats continue to press upon the American people. I\u2019m ready to take up that fight.”<\/p>\n

Neera Tanden, president and CEO of Center for American Progress, wrote in an X post in response to Nehls’ retirement: \u201cThe dam is breaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Happens Next?<\/p>\n

Candidates have until the evening of December 8 to file their candidacy for the seat. The primary will take place on March 3, and the general election on November 3, 2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Representative Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, announced Saturday that he will retire from the U.S. House at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2671,145,35547,20114,24643,27,29,28,27692,2860,4040],"class_list":["post-69990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-congress","tag-donald-trump","tag-marjorie-taylor-greene","tag-midterms","tag-nancy-pelosi","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-troy-nehls","tag-u-s-house-of-representatives","tag-us-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}