Mark Teixeira is headed to Congress. The three-time MLB All-Star won Texas’ 21st Congressional District on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Kristin Hook in his first time running for public office. At 46, the former Rangers and Yankees first baseman will take over the seat from Republican Rep.
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“Together, we can build a better future for our families, our neighbors, and every community across Texas 21,” Teixeira said on his X account. “I’m excited to get to work. I will be praying for all of you and for the future of this great nation. God bless Texas, and God bless America.”
Chip Roy left Congress to run for Texas attorney general, but lost the race. Hook previously worked at the National Institutes of Health and the Government Accountability Office. She had also challenged Roy in 2024 but lost after he secured 61.9% of the vote.
Teixeira won the Republican primary in March, beating nine other candidates and taking more than 61% of the vote. He had launched his campaign in August 2025, promising to support President Donald Trump’s America First agenda. Trump endorsed him on February 5.
Teixeira’s campaign raised more than $4 million, including a $2.5 million loan from his own money. Hook raised $388,265.29. However, the San Antonio Report noted that Teixeira held few public events and did not take part in a debate with Hook.
The Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball PAC donated $5,000 to Teixeira’s campaign on June 8, 2026, and the campaign confirmed receipt on June 12.
His campaign came just days after Texas Republicans approved a new congressional map aimed at strengthening the party’s position in 2026.
The new map was expected to give San Antonio more Republican than Democratic representatives in the House for the first time in recent history. But Teixeira was the only Republican from the area to win his race in what the San Antonio Report described as a blue wave.
Before politics, Mark Teixeira was a fifth overall pick and the best college player in America. The Texas Rangers took him in 2001, a year after he won National Collegiate Player of the Year at Georgia.
14 seasons, five Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers, a World Series ring in 2009, and $213 million in career earnings. Mark Teixeira had the résumé most players only dream about. Then he retired, moved his family back to Texas in 2021, and stepped away from the game entirely.
His interest in politics started in 2012 when he attended Mitt Romney’s election night watch party in Boston, just weeks after the Yankees’ season ended.
“That was my first taste of politics,” he told the San Antonio Report.
Three years later, he hosted two fundraisers for Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign. After Rubio lost the Republican primary, Teixeira threw his support behind Donald Trump.
When he announced his campaign, Teixeira said he wanted to work with Trump to secure the U.S. border and end what he called “radical woke indoctrination.”
The election also brought contrasting results for two former sports figures. Former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya lost Minnesota’s Senate race to Democrat Peggy Flanagan, while former college football coach Tommy Tuberville secured Alabama’s governorship with a win over Democrat Doug Jones. Tuberville had previously defeated Jones in the 2020 Senate race.