Rep. Chip Roy, a hard-right House Freedom Caucus member and frequent thorn in the side of party leadership, is entering the Republican primary to replace Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate against incumbent fellow Republican Sen. John Cornyn. In a campaign launch video Thursday, Roy tied his candidacy to his support for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, warning that “the Texas of our dreams … is under assault” by “radical Democrats” who, he said, “have flooded our streets, hospitals, jails and schools with illegal immigrants and dangerous fentanyl." As policy chair for the Freedom Caucus and a member of the powerful House Rules Committee, Roy, 53, has become one of the most outspoken members of his party on curbing illegal immigration and cutting federal spending. At times, he’s also rebelled against members of the establishment wing of his own party — and Trump. In 2023, Roy was among a small group of GOP holdouts who refused to vote for then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for speaker, though he eventually did back him. Later that year, he was one of just 71 Republicans (roughly half of whom were Freedom Caucus members) to vote against legislation to raise the federal debt limit. Roy has also shown a willingness to buck Trump directly. In 2021, he was one of a handful of Texas Republicans who voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results. And in 2024, he endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ bid for the presidency against Trump. Roy enters a crowded Republican primary that already includes state Sens. Joan Huffman and Mayes Middleton as well as former Department of Justice official Aaron Reitz. Roy may already have advantages. The congressman, who enters the field with roughly $2.5 million in his federal campaign coffers, has become well-known outside of Texas, thanks in part to frequent appearances on right-wing media including Fox News and Newsmax. The race is playing out at the same time as a high-stakes fight to redraw Texas’s congressional maps has drawn national attention. On Wednesday, the Republican-led state Legislature, under pressure from Trump, voted to advance redistricting plans that could give the GOP five more House seats in 2026. The state Senate could approve the new maps as early as Thursday. If elected to be the state’s top law enforcement official, Roy would enter office with a deep familiarity of the personalities and politics of state government. Before coming to Congress, Roy served stints working as an adviser to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, as an assistant to Paxton, and as a staffer under then-Texas attorney general Cornyn. Roy was first elected to Congress in 2018 after narrowly winning an open seat in central Texas to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Lamar Smith in the 21st congressional district. He has won comfortably ever since.
