2026 Midterms · U.S. House · Texas Safe
Texas — 10th District
Democratic
Caitlin Rourk
Republican
Chris Gober
The 2026 election for Texas's 10th Congressional District is an open-seat matchup between Democratic nominee Caitlin Rourk and Republican nominee Chris Gober, following the retirement of long-time incumbent Republican Representative Michael McCaul. The election takes place under a congressional map redrawn by Texas in August 2025. The race hinges on sharp ideological differences over border security, federal government oversight, healthcare reform, and technological infrastructure in Central and rural Texas. Forecasters, including The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill, uniformly rate the district as Solid Republican or Safe Republican.
Border security and immigration
high salienceWhile Gober calls for hardline border enforcement and empowering Texas law enforcement to crush cartels alongside Donald Trump, Rourk highlights fixing a broken immigration system as part of a common-sense policy agenda.
Caitlin Rourk
Supports fixing broken immigration system
Rourk identifies fixing the broken immigration system as a core campaign priority for Texas families. She emphasizes common-sense solutions over political posturing.
- Fix the broken immigration system as part of a common-sense policy agenda.
“Fix Our Broken Immigration System”
Chris Gober
Supports strict border enforcement and cartels
Gober promises to partner with Donald Trump on day one to secure the southern border and stop illegal immigration. He advocates for fully enforcing federal immigration laws and empowering Texas law enforcement to combat drug trafficking and cartels.
- Fully enforce federal immigration laws to halt illegal entry and crime.
- Empower Texas law enforcement to combat cartels and drug trafficking.
- Partner with Donald Trump on Day One to secure the border.
“Our nation’s border crisis fuels crime, drug trafficking, and violence. I will work with President Trump to secure our border and crush the cartels on Day One by fully enforcing immigration laws, empowering Texas law enforcement, and supporting President Trump’s strategy to stop the flow of illegal drugs and criminal activity.”
Economy and cost of living
high salienceRourk emphasizes raising wages, corporate tax accountability, and affordable child care, while Gober advocates deregulation, rural economic development, and Trump's America First growth policies.
Caitlin Rourk
Supports working-family tax and corporate accountability
Rourk prioritizes an economy that lifts working families by raising the minimum wage, lowering housing costs, and making child care affordable. She advocates ensuring corporations pay their fair share and supporting local small businesses.
- Support a living minimum wage and solutions for rising housing costs.
- Expand access to affordable child care and support small businesses.
- Hold corporations accountable and ensure they pay their fair share.
“That means affordable child care and health care, a dignified retirement, support for small businesses, a living wage, and real solutions to rising housing costs. Too often, economic policy favors the wealthy and well-connected; in Congress, I’ll hold corporations accountable and ensure they pay their fair share.”
Chris Gober
Supports deregulation and America First growth
Gober promotes Donald Trump's America First economic agenda to spur economic growth and make essential goods more affordable. He advocates cutting burdensome regulations on small businesses, family farms, and ranches while boosting defense and tech investment.
- Cut regulations strangling family farms, ranches, and Main Street businesses.
- Make essential goods more affordable through Trump's America First agenda.
- Invest in defense and tech innovation to outcompete China.
“I support cutting burdensome regulations that strangle family farms and ranches, promoting Main Street business growth, and ensuring rural Texas has the roads, water, and resources needed to thrive alongside our cities.”
Healthcare
high salienceRourk advocates strengthening the ACA, expanding Medicaid, and lowering drug costs, whereas Gober focuses on cutting regulations and improving healthcare access in rural communities.
Caitlin Rourk
Supports expanding ACA and lowering costs
Rourk focuses heavily on making health care affordable and accessible, citing Texas's high uninsured rate. She proposes expanding Medicaid, strengthening the ACA, lowering prescription drug costs, and expanding mental health services.
- Advocate for Medicaid expansion and strengthening the Affordable Care Act.
- Lower prescription drug costs and protect coverage for pre-existing conditions.
- End surprise billing and expand mental health and addiction services.
- Support local and rural health care providers.
“In Congress, I’ll lower drug costs, protect coverage for pre-existing conditions, expand mental health and addiction services, end surprise billing, support rural and community providers, and close the coverage gap by strengthening the ACA and advocating for Medicaid expansion.”
Chris Gober
Supports strengthening rural healthcare access
Gober targets healthcare access in rural areas, noting that rural Texans face limited access to quality care. He advocates strengthening rural healthcare facilities so residents do not have to travel far for treatment.
- Strengthen rural healthcare infrastructure to ensure local access to care.
- Reduce burdensome regulations affecting healthcare access in rural communities.
“Chris will fight to cut burdensome regulations, expand small business opportunities, make essentials more affordable, and strengthen rural healthcare so families don’t have to drive hours for treatment.”
Technology, AI, and energy infrastructure
medium salienceBoth candidates emphasize protecting local water and electricity supplies from large tech projects, but Gober focuses on ensuring American AI dominance against China, whereas Rourk emphasizes federal regulation of AI and clean energy investment.
Caitlin Rourk
Supports responsible AI regulation and infrastructure
Rourk calls for federal investment in water, roads, broadband, and clean energy while regulating artificial intelligence responsibly. She specifically seeks to prevent large data centers from straining local resources or raising power bills.
- Secure federal funding for water, roads, broadband, and clean energy infrastructure.
- Regulate AI responsibly to protect local communities.
- Prevent data centers from draining community resources and raising energy prices.
“Congress has the power to protect our communities, and I’ll use it, whether preventing data centers from draining our community resources and hiking energy costs or regulating AI responsibly.”
Chris Gober
Supports US AI dominance with rural protections
Gober advocates for U.S. dominance in AI and technology to beat China, while protecting domestic innovation from economic espionage. He supports smart investments in AI infrastructure that protect rural communities from higher utility rates and water depletion.
- Promote American AI dominance and protect innovation from Chinese economic espionage.
- Ensure AI infrastructure investments protect rural water supplies and electricity rates.
- Establish Austin and the Brazos Valley as centers for innovation.
“Chris will fight for policies that protect American innovation from China’s economic espionage and champion smart investments in American AI infrastructure that protect rural Texans from projects that drive up electricity rates and drain local water supplies.”
Governance, freedom, and government overreach
medium salienceGober defines government overreach as federal agencies targeting conservatives and suppressing free speech, while Rourk defines it as government intrusion into personal choices and reproductive healthcare.
Caitlin Rourk
Supports transparent government and reproductive rights
Rourk pledges to restore trust in Congress through transparent, bipartisan governance. She advocates for protecting personal choices, health care decisions, and reproductive rights from government overreach.
- Maintain a transparent, accountable, and inclusive congressional office.
- Protect personal choices, business decisions, and reproductive rights from government intrusion.
- Focus on bipartisan legislation and tangible community results.
“And I’ll hold Congress accountable to do the work voters sent me to Washington to do, without letting the government overreach into our businesses, our personal choices, or our health and reproductive rights.”
Chris Gober
Opposes federal weaponization against conservatives
Gober built his platform on combating federal bureaucratic overreach and what he terms the weaponization of government agencies against conservatives. He highlights his career legal victories defending free speech and constitutional rights.
- Stop federal agencies from weaponizing power against political conservatives.
- Defend free speech, election integrity, and constitutional rights in court.
- Eliminate wasteful spending and fraud across federal departments.
“I will fight to stop the weaponization of government by radical Democrats who use federal agencies to intimidate, censor, and silence conservatives.”
Education and public schools
medium salienceRourk advocates increasing federal funding for public schools, special education, and technical training, while Gober focuses on removing woke ideologies from classrooms.
Caitlin Rourk
Supports public school funding and technical education
Rourk pledges to defend public schools and fully support federal programs like IDEA. She emphasizes increasing school mental health and safety resources and technical job training.
- Protect funding for public education and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
- Expand mental health and safety resources in schools.
- Invest in technical education and vocational training.
“In Congress, I’ll fight for public schools and programs like IDEA, expand mental health and safety resources, and invest in technical education and training that give Central Texas kids the skills and opportunities to thrive in the jobs of tomorrow.”
Chris Gober
Opposes woke ideologies in classrooms
Gober opposes progressive curricula in schools, pledging to protect classrooms from what he describes as woke ideologies that undermine fundamental American values.
- Protect classrooms from woke ideologies.
- Uphold traditional American values in educational institutions.
“Radical progressives will stop at nothing to weaponize the federal government against conservatives, reopen our borders to violent criminals and deadly cartels, and plague our classrooms with woke ideologies that reject fundamental American values.”
Foreign policy and national security
low salienceRourk emphasizes military constraint and foreign policy leadership without reckless wars, whereas Gober focuses on aggressive economic and military competition to outcompete China.
Caitlin Rourk
Supports responsible foreign policy without reckless wars
Drawing on her background as a U.S. Army Reserve and Texas Army National Guard veteran, Rourk advocates for strong global leadership while avoiding reckless foreign military conflicts.
- Advance responsible foreign policy and maintain national security.
- Promote global leadership without getting entangled in reckless wars.
“Global Leadership Without Reckless Wars”
Chris Gober
Supports preeminent military strength and beating China
Gober focuses national security policy on ensuring the United States remains the world's preeminent superpower over China through defense technology investments and border security.
- Ensure America remains the dominant global superpower over China.
- Boost federal investments in cutting-edge defense technology.
“I am passionate about ensuring America remains the preeminent superpower in the world—we cannot cede our position to communist China—and that means securing our border, protecting our freedoms, growing our economy, and ending reckless spending.”
Election integrity
low salienceChris Gober
Supports strict election integrity measures
Gober emphasizes defending election integrity based on his career experience as a conservative election lawyer. He pledges to stop Democratic efforts to alter election laws.
- Stop unconstitutional attempts to alter election rules.
- Defend election integrity in federal courts.
“Defend election integrity by stopping Democrats’ unconstitutional attempts to rig our elections and deny the will of the American people.”