Rep. Troy Nehls becomes the sixth member of Texas’ congressional delegation to announce their retirement

By

Briana Ryan

Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) announced on Nov. 29, 2025, that he will not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026.

On his retirement, Nehls posted on X, “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.”

In 2020, Nehls won his first term in the U.S. House in Texas’ 22nd Congressional District after then-incumbent Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas) announced his retirement. Nehls defeated Sri Preston Kulkarni (D) in the general election 52% to 45%. In his two subsequent re-election bids, Nehls won by 26 percentage points in 2022 and 24 percentage points in 2024.

As of Nov. 25, 2025, independent race forecasters The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections have rated the 2026 general election for the district as Solid Republican. Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Republican.

Nehls is the sixth member of Texas’ 40-member congressional delegation to announce that they will not seek re-election to their current seat in 2026. The other members were:

Additionally, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) previously announced his intention to retire. However, Doggett reversed his decision after a three-judge panel struck down Texas' 2025 congressional map and ordered the state to use the 2021 map in the 2026 elections. Texas appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which temporarily stayed the ruling on Nov. 21, 2025. Click here to read more about mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections.

As of Nov. 29, 2025, Nehls is one of 47 members of the U.S. Congress—eight U.S. Senate members and 39 U.S. House members—who have announced they will not seek re-election to their current seats in 2026.

Of the 39 representatives not seeking re-election

  • Fourteen—nine Democrats and five Republicans—are retiring from public office.
  • Twelve—six Democrats and six Republicans—are running for the U.S. Senate.
  • Twelve—one Democrat and 11 Republicans—are running for governor.
  • One Republican is running for state attorney general.

Compared to the last four election cycles, there were 25 retirement announcements at this point in 2024, 24 in 2022, 27 in 2020, and 31 in 2018.

Between January 2011 to November 2025, Ballotpedia followed 335 announcements from U.S. House members who announced they would not seek re-election. January had the highest number of members announcing they would not run for re-election at 57. The fewest announcements took place in June at 15.