Alex Mealer
RChallengerFEC H6TX09140
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Raised this cycle$2.8M
Cash on hand: $201K
2026 race
TX-09 — U.S. House
2 candidates on the November ballot. No incumbent on the FEC's 2026 roster — see note below.
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How we got here · 3 earlier contests
Republican runoff · Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Called by manual backfill (AP/Wikipedia/Ballotpedia)
Alex MealerWon68.3%
- RBriscoe Rowell CainDefeated31.7%
Democratic primary · Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Called by manual backfill (AP/Wikipedia/Ballotpedia)
Leticia GutierrezWon53.6%
- DTerry VirtsDefeated14.6%
- DTodd IveyDefeated7.1%
- DEarnest ClaytonDefeated16.3%
Republican primary · Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Called by manual backfill (AP/Wikipedia/Ballotpedia)
No candidate won a majority — the top two advanced to a runoff: Alex Mealer and Briscoe Rowell Cain.
- RAlex MealerAdvanced to runoff36.0%
- RBriscoe Rowell CainAdvanced to runoff31.3%
- RSteve StockmanDefeated16.5%
- RDan MimsDefeated8.3%
Currently held by
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Texas Secretary of State.
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Disclosed money in race
$11M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Candidates
Sorted by fundraising
Leticia Gutierrez
DChallengerFEC H6TX09231
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Raised this cycle$215K
Cash on hand: $111K
11 defeated candidates — show
Terry Virts
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6TX09207
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Raised this cycle$667K
Cash on hand: $56K
Briscoe Rowell Cain
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6TX09124
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Raised this cycle$621K
Cash on hand: $25K
Dan Mims
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6TX09165
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Raised this cycle$425K
Cash on hand: $2K
Steve Stockman
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H0TX09077
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Raised this cycle$252K
Cash on hand: $0
Todd Ivey
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6TX09215
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Raised this cycle$193K
Cash on hand: $0
Jaimy Blanco
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H8TX29110
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Raised this cycle$122K
Cash on hand: $0
Crystal Sarmiento
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6TX09199
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Raised this cycle$79K
Cash on hand: $0
James Buford
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H4TX06232
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Raised this cycle$73K
Cash on hand: $0
Dwayne Bradley Stovall
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6TX09157
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Raised this cycle$28K
Cash on hand: $0
Terry Lee Thain
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6TX09181
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Raised this cycle$5K
Cash on hand: $2K
Earnest Clayton
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6TX18273
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Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: $0
Local signal
Early read on TX-09 — U.S. House
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Alex Mealerlimited coverage
No coverage in our tracked outlets in the last 90 days.
Leticia Gutierrezmixed
0 pos1 neutral0 neg1 articles
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle
Total disclosed
$11M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$5.5M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$5.9M
$5.0M for · $972K against
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Alex Mealer(R) + CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION $1.1M + VETERANS DUTY FUND $750K + DEFENDING OUR VALUES PAC $646K − BUILDING A STRONG AMERICA $270K − CITIZENS FOR AMERICAN STRENGTH $85K − COURAGEOUS CONSERVATIVES PAC $7K | $2.8M | $4.8M | $362K | $7.3M |
Leticia Gutierrez(D) | $215K | — | — | $215K |
11 defeated candidates — show finances
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Terry Virts(D)defeated + BACK THE BOLD $6K + PROGRESSIVE CENTURY PROJECT $4K | $667K | $10K | — | $677K |
Dan Mims(R)defeated | $425K | — | — | $425K |
Steve Stockman(R)defeated + DRAFT STEVE STOCKMAN FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE $3K | $252K | $3K | — | $255K |
Todd Ivey(D)defeated + AMERICAN COLLEGE OF OB-GYNS PAC (OB-GYN PAC) $50K | $193K | $50K | — | $243K |
Jaimy Blanco(R)defeated | $122K | — | — | $122K |
Crystal Sarmiento(R)defeated | $79K | — | — | $79K |
James Buford(D)defeated | $73K | — | — | $73K |
Briscoe Rowell Cain(R)defeated + CITIZENS FOR AMERICAN STRENGTH $32K + LONE STAR STRONG $16K + LIBERTY AND ORDER COMMITTEE $6K − WIN IT BACK PAC $417K − DEFENDING OUR VALUES PAC $98K − LIBERTY AND ORDER COMMITTEE $94K | $621K | $54K | $609K | $65K |
Dwayne Bradley Stovall(R)defeated | $28K | — | — | $28K |
Terry Lee Thain(R)defeated | $5K | — | — | $5K |
Earnest Clayton(D)defeated | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside TX versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Alex Mealer(R)90% in-state · $2.0M itemized
$1.8M in-state$193K out-of-state
Leticia Gutierrez(D)94% in-state · $44K itemized
$41K in-state$3K out-of-state
9 defeated candidates — show
Terry Virts(D)defeated32% in-state · $340K itemized
$108K in-state$232K out-of-state
Dan Mims(R)defeated93% in-state · $38K itemized
$36K in-state$3K out-of-state
Steve Stockman(R)defeated0% in-state · $12K itemized
$0 in-state$12K out-of-state
Todd Ivey(D)defeated95% in-state · $165K itemized
$158K in-state$8K out-of-state
Jaimy Blanco(R)defeated20% in-state · $106K itemized
$21K in-state$85K out-of-state
Crystal Sarmiento(R)defeated98% in-state · $72K itemized
$71K in-state$2K out-of-state
James Buford(D)defeated100% in-state · $16K itemized
$16K in-state$0 out-of-state
Briscoe Rowell Cain(R)defeated94% in-state · $570K itemized
$537K in-state$33K out-of-state
Dwayne Bradley Stovall(R)defeated100% in-state · $11K itemized
$11K in-state$0 out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
Recent coverage
In the news
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.