Trump’s Endorsement Blitz: Mark Teixeira Shakes Up Texas 21st Race

Paul Riverbank, 2/6/2026Baseball star Mark Teixeira’s political debut heats up Texas, fueled by a pivotal Trump endorsement.

Teixeira’s first career—in stadiums crowded with roaring fans—gave him a knack for rising to the moment, but politics is a different game. Most in Texas remember his steady swing, the Gold Gloves, a World Series win that left the Bronx faithful ecstatic. Now, instead of waiting on a fastball, Teixeira studies briefing binders and shakes hands in Hill Country diners, pitching himself as the successor to Rep. Chip Roy, who chose to exit rather than run another term.

The transition feels sudden, but open seats in Texas are always magnets for ambition. Teixeira says his conservative convictions run deep, pointing to his long residency in the state. His positions echo what’s played well here: secure the border, lean hard on energy production, guard gun rights. It's no accident that his early messaging ticks these boxes — in Texas, you start at the foundation and build from there.

But what makes this race pop isn’t Teixeira’s stance on the Keystone pipeline or his rhetoric about “woke indoctrination.” It's the sense of spectacle: Trump’s endorsement swings a spotlight, amplifying Teixeira’s campaign in a way local ads never could. “Mark has a great wife, Leigh, and three beautiful children,” the former president wrote, swiftly painting a portrait of family and old-fashioned values. For voters who see politics as personal, those touches tend to matter as much as policy.

Sheer volume of support is hard to miss. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, firebrand Jim Jordan, collegiate athlete Riley Gaines—each new name for Teixeira’s corner is both a campaign asset and a signal that Washington’s establishment is watching. It’s the kind of high-profile support that rarely gathers around a first-time candidate unless they believe the seat is winnable—and worth defending.

The issues aren’t unfamiliar, but the stakes have sharpened. In towns dotting this district, conversations about border security aren’t abstractions. Recent events—a surge in crossings, violent headlines—have made immigration a neighborhood topic again. On energy, Teixeira talks about oil fields and refineries as points of pride, not just policy. He sprinkles in tributes to American manufacturers and vows to fight tax hikes, all delivered with the brisk confidence you’d expect from a retired athlete.

Teixeira will have to campaign down to the wire. The timeline doesn’t favor mistakes. There’s a primary in March; if no one gets more than half the vote, there’s a runoff in May. That means Teixeira’s weekends are spent at VFW halls and city parks, looking for the kind of handshake or anecdote that translates into actual votes.

Of course, some voters still squint at the campaign posters and wonder, can a man who spent decades in the dugout really handle Capitol Hill? In Texas, though, turning All-Stars into statesmen isn’t as odd as it sounds. It’s been done before—athletic fame turns up in candidate résumés as reliably as ranching or oil—and at times, it carries people astonishingly far.

As this campaign unfurls, nobody knows if the playbook that worked in Yankee Stadium will deliver in the House of Representatives. What’s sure is the next few weeks in the 21st District will be anything but dull. Voters, as ever, have the final say.

It was just another afternoon in Texas’ 21st District—until it wasn’t. All at once, newsfeeds began crackling with Donald Trump's signature braggadocio. If Mark Teixeira hoped to quietly test the political waters, that hope vanished as Trump’s endorsement thundered online: vivid adjectives, nostalgia for old ballgames, a promise that Teixeira was just the sort of “America First” candidate the GOP needed. In Texas, words from Mar-a-Lago rarely go unheard.Teixeira’s first career—in stadiums crowded with roaring fans—gave him a knack for rising to the moment, but politics is a different game. Most in Texas remember his steady swing, the Gold Gloves, a World Series win that left the Bronx faithful ecstatic. Now, instead of waiting on a fastball, Teixeira studies briefing binders and shakes hands in Hill Country diners, pitching himself as the successor to Rep. Chip Roy, who chose to exit rather than run another term.The transition feels sudden, but open seats in Texas are always magnets for ambition. Teixeira says his conservative convictions run deep, pointing to his long residency in the state. His positions echo what’s played well here: secure the border, lean hard on energy production, guard gun rights. It's no accident that his early messaging ticks these boxes — in Texas, you start at the foundation and build from there.But what makes this race pop isn’t Teixeira’s stance on the Keystone pipeline or his rhetoric about “woke indoctrination.” It's the sense of spectacle: Trump’s endorsement swings a spotlight, amplifying Teixeira’s campaign in a way local ads never could. “Mark has a great wife, Leigh, and three beautiful children,” the former president wrote, swiftly painting a portrait of family and old-fashioned values. For voters who see politics as personal, those touches tend to matter as much as policy.Sheer volume of support is hard to miss. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, firebrand Jim Jordan, collegiate athlete Riley Gaines—each new name for Teixeira’s corner is both a campaign asset and a signal that Washington’s establishment is watching. It’s the kind of high-profile support that rarely gathers around a first-time candidate unless they believe the seat is winnable—and worth defending.The issues aren’t unfamiliar, but the stakes have sharpened. In towns dotting this district, conversations about border security aren’t abstractions. Recent events—a surge in crossings, violent headlines—have made immigration a neighborhood topic again. On energy, Teixeira talks about oil fields and refineries as points of pride, not just policy. He sprinkles in tributes to American manufacturers and vows to fight tax hikes, all delivered with the brisk confidence you’d expect from a retired athlete.Teixeira will have to campaign down to the wire. The timeline doesn’t favor mistakes. There’s a primary in March; if no one gets more than half the vote, there’s a runoff in May. That means Teixeira’s weekends are spent at VFW halls and city parks, looking for the kind of handshake or anecdote that translates into actual votes.Of course, some voters still squint at the campaign posters and wonder, can a man who spent decades in the dugout really handle Capitol Hill? In Texas, though, turning All-Stars into statesmen isn’t as odd as it sounds. It’s been done before—athletic fame turns up in candidate résumés as reliably as ranching or oil—and at times, it carries people astonishingly far.As this campaign unfurls, nobody knows if the playbook that worked in Yankee Stadium will deliver in the House of Representatives. What’s sure is the next few weeks in the 21st District will be anything but dull. Voters, as ever, have the final say.