College Station voters will help fill an open seat in Congress this fall. Every ballot in Brazos County carries the race for U.S. Representative, District 10, along with the U.S. Senate contest, according to the county's official sample ballot for the Nov. 3 general election.
U.S. House, District 10
Rep. Michael McCaul, an Austin Republican who has held the seat for more than two decades, announced last year that he would not run again, the Texas Tribune reported. The district stretches from Austin toward East Texas and covers all or part of 13 counties; nearly a third of its residents live in Brazos County.
Two candidates are on the ballot:
- Chris Gober, Republican. Gober is an Austin lawyer who runs the firm Lex Politica and in 2024 was director and chief lawyer for Elon Musk's America PAC, according to the Tribune. He won the March 3 Republican primary outright with about 51% of the vote in a 10-way field, The Texan reported, after endorsements from President Donald Trump, Gov. Greg Abbott, Sen. Ted Cruz and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
- Caitlin Rourk, Democrat. Rourk is a former Army officer who most recently worked at Dell Technologies, the Tribune reported. She won the Democratic primary outright with about 61% of the vote over two opponents, according to The Texan.
The Texan's partisan index rates the district as leaning Republican by a wide margin, and the Tribune reported that Trump would have carried it with about 60% of the vote in 2024.
U.S. Senate
The Senate race on the county ballot lists Republican Ken Paxton, Democrat James Talarico and Libertarian Ted Brown. Four declared write-in candidates are also listed: Avery Ayers, Bradford "Brad" Hall, Zul Mohamed and Jade Simmons.
