Texas Rep. Troy Nehls announced over the weekend that he won’t seek reelection next year, becoming the sixth Republican in Texas’ congressional delegation to bow out this cycle, and adding to the steady churn inside a party still struggling to navigate the Trump era.
The timing raised eyebrows. Nehls revealed his decision less than 10 days before the Dec. 8 filing deadline, leaving almost no room for an open contest.
But a successor emerged almost instantly: his twin brother, Trever Nehls, who jumped into the race within 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 post to social media, casting himself as the natural heir to his brother’s “America First” politics.
It’s an aggressive pitch for a candidate who hasn’t won office in recent years. Trever, a former Fort Bend County constable, narrowly lost a 2020 sheriff’s race and came up short again in 2022 when he ran for county judge. But with Troy stepping aside just before the deadline, the twin handoff gives him a structural advantage that few Republicans in competitive primaries ever enjoy.
And Nehls isn’t the only Texas Republican heading for the exit. With his announcement, he joins five other GOP members of the state’s delegation who’ve already said they won’t run again in 2026. Two—Reps. Wesley Hunt and Chip Roy—are chasing higher office, running for the U.S. Senate and the attorney general post, respectively. The other three—Reps. Jodey Arrington, Morgan Luttrell, and Michael McCaul—have yet to reveal what comes next.
Rep. Wesley Hunt is also chasing higher office.
Taken together, it’s an unusually large wave of departures from a state whose Republicans typically enjoy safe seats and long tenures.
The districts they leave behind are also in flux. Texas’s congressional boundaries are tied up in court after a panel of federal judges blocked the state from using a new GOP-gerrymandered map designed to squeeze out several more Republican seats.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on whether the state can rely on those disputed lines while the case plays out. Under the proposed map, Nehls’ 22nd District would retain most of its current population while shifting further into Harris County.
What surprised many Republicans was Nehls’ willingness to walk away at the height of President Donald Trump’s second term. Nehls has built much of his identity around Trump, backing efforts to put the president’s face on the $100 bill and rename the Dulles International Airport in his honor. He even wore Trump’s mug shot on a T-shirt.
Rep. Chip Roy plans to runs for Texas attorney general.
Nehls said he informed Trump of his plans before going public. But in his retirement statement, he framed the move as a personal choice shaped by conversations with his family 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 said. “Thank you for your trust, your friendship, and your prayers.”
Nehls is in his third term representing the 22nd District, a deep-red seat anchored in Fort Bend and Brazoria counties with stretches of Harris, Matagorda, and Wharton counties.
He first won in 2020 with just over 51% of the vote, then consolidated his hold with more than 62% in 2022 and 2024. He sits on the House Judiciary Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he chairs the Subcommittee on Aviation.
Still, his time in Congress hasn’t been without friction. He voted to overturn the 2020 election results and was initially selected to serve on the Jan. 6 committee, though then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy later pulled all Republican members. He’s also moved in and out of hard-right circles, leaving the House Freedom Caucus last year over what he called philosophical differences.
And he’s weathered his share of controversies. In 2024, the House Ethics Committee scrutinized his campaign’s rent payments to a company he owns. He sued the Capitol Police, alleging an improper search of his office; the suit was dismissed.
A separate CBS News investigation also raised questions about his military record, though later reporting confirmed he had been awarded at least one of the disputed medals, a Bronze Star for his 2008 service in Afghanistan.
Last month, Nehls and the rest of the Texas GOP delegation voted to force the release of Justice Department files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein—after Nehls previously argued against doing so. The pivot followed Trump’s appeal.
“If Donald Trump says ‘Jump three feet high and scratch your heads,’ we all jump three feet high and scratch our heads,” Nehls told reporters last November, a line that has aged awkwardly in light of his recent moves.
Even with Nehls stepping aside, the district remains solidly Republican. Trump carried it by 59% in 2024 and 57% in 2020. Democrats might see a narrow opening under current lines, but that could vanish if the state’s gerrymandered map goes into effect.
Nehls’ exit adds to the anxiety inside a conference already operating with the slimmest of margins. House Republicans will lose another seat in January when Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resigns, and retirements continue to mount on both sides of the aisle.
For now, Nehls is simply the newest name on a growing list of Republicans heading for the exit—a sign that loyalty to Trump doesn’t insulate anyone from the broader instability gripping the party heading into 2026.
