Texas New Members 2023

Rep.-elect Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas-1)

DATE OF BIRTH: September 1974
RESIDENCE: Tyler, Texas
OCCUPATION: Smith County judge
EDUCATION: B.A., MBA, J.D., Texas Tech University
FAMILY: married, Kyna Moran; four children

• Rep.-elect Nathaniel Moran (R) will serve the 1st Congressional District of Texas after defeating Jrmar Jefferson.

Moran will replace Rep. Louie Gohmert, who ran for attorney general but lost in the GOP primary to incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Moran grew up in Whitehouse, Texas, before moving to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and then Lubbock, Texas, where he received a B.A., MBA and J.D. from Texas Tech University.

Moran moved back to northeast Texas after his studies, where he founded the Nathaniel Moran Law Firm in 2016.

Moran served on the Tyler City Council for four years ending in 2009, representing District 5. He has been the Smith County judge since 2016 before running for congressional office.

The Trump-endorsed Moran is an advocate for veterans and law enforcement and says he plans to prioritize border and election security.

— Chloe Folmar

Rep.-elect Keith Self (R-Texas-3)

DATE OF BIRTH: March 20, 1953
RESIDENCE: Frisco, Texas
OCCUPATION: retired Collin County judge
EDUCATION: B.S., U.S. Military Academy; M.A., University of Southern California
FAMILY: wife, Tracy Self

• Rep.-elect Keith Self (R) defeated his Democratic opponent, Sandeep Srivastava, with 60 percent of the vote and will serve as the congressman for Texas’s 3rd District, north of Dallas.

Self will replace Rep. Van Taylor (R), who stepped down from his run for reelection amid accusations of infidelity to his wife.

Self grew up in the Texas panhandle before attending the U.S. Military Academy and spending 24 years in the military. He retired in 1999 as a lieutenant colonel.

He was elected as county judge in Collin County, Texas, in 2006 and served three consecutive terms in that office before retiring in 2018.

The former judge supports cutting down barriers to innovation, which he defines as excess regulations and taxes.

Self is also an advocate for border security and election integrity and describes himself as anti-abortion. He plans to strengthen the presence of the Texas National Guard at the Texas-Mexico border and support voter ID laws during his time in Congress.

— Chloe Folmar

Rep.-elect Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas-8)

DATE OF BIRTH: Nov. 7, 1975
RESIDENCE: Magnolia, Texas
OCCUPATION: adjunct professor, small-business owner
EDUCATION: B.A., Sam Houston State University; M.S., University of Texas at Dallas
FAMILY: wife, Leslie Luttrell; two children

• Rep.-elect Morgan Luttrell (R) will replace retiring Republican Rep. Kevin Brady (R) in Texas’s 8th Congressional District, north of Houston, after beating Democratic opponent Laura Jones.

Luttrell, who grew up on a horse ranch, enlisted in the U.S. Navy after earning a bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State University. After completing Navy SEAL training, Luttrell became a Naval Special Warfare officer.

The veteran spent 14 years in the Navy before being medically discharged due to injuries sustained from a traumatic brain injury and broken back. Luttrell earned an M.S. in applied cognition and neuroscience and created a health platform for veterans recovering from PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.

Luttrell worked as a special adviser at the Department of Energy under former President Trump, where he spearheaded the creation of the Artificial Intelligence and Technologies Office.

— Chloe Folmar

Rep.-elect Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas-15)

DATE OF BIRTH: Nov. 11, 1974
RESIDENCE: Alamo, Texas
OCCUPATION: insurance agent
EDUCATION: BBA, University of Texas at San Antonio
FAMILY: two children

• Republican Monica De La Cruz won a competitive open seat in Texas’s 15th Congressional District, which stretches from outside San Antonio down to the Rio Grande Valley, defeating Democratic nominee Michelle Vallejo.

She ran for the seat in 2020 and lost by 3 points to Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, who for the 2022 election moved to the neighboring 34th District.

Raised by a single mother in Brownsville, Texas, De La Cruz describes her upbringing as built around faith.

De La Cruz is a former Democrat, telling Fox News in June that she walked away from the party because it “is far removed from the values that are important to Hispanics.”

“Those values include their faith, it includes their family, and it includes love of country,” she said. “My great-grandparents and my grandparents had the American dream, and that is why they came here. And for Democrats to say that dream no longer exists is ridiculous.”

— Emily Brooks

Rep.-elect Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas-30)

DATE OF BIRTH: March 29, 1981
RESIDENCE: Dallas
OCCUPATION: attorney, politician
EDUCATION: B.A., Rhodes College; J.D., University of Houston
FAMILY: single

• Democrat Jasmine Crockett will represent Texas’s 30th Congressional District. She is currently a member of the Texas House of Representatives, where she has served the 100th District since January 2021. 

Crockett is the daughter of a teacher and a postal worker and is the first Black woman to represent that legislative district.

Following law school, Crockett worked as a civil rights attorney and later as a public defender for Bowie County, Texas. 

She has centered her campaign around voting rights, as it became a central part of her time in the Texas House. She was one of the many Texas Democratic House members who traveled to Washington, D.C., last year to advocate for federal voting rights legislation. 

“Jasmine is ready to continue our fight and usher in the next generation of servant leadership in the halls of Congress and Washington, D.C.,” her campaign’s website said. 

— Camdyn Bruce

Rep.-elect Greg Casar (D-Texas-35)

DATE OF BIRTH: May 4, 1989
RESIDENCE: Austin, Texas
OCCUPATION: politician, organizer
EDUCATION: B.A., University of Virginia
FAMILY: engaged, Asha Dane’el

• Greg Casar will represent the Lone Star State’s 35th District after defeating Republican Dan McQueen.

Casar represented the 4th District in the Austin City Council from 2015 until February 2022. 

Casar’s advocacy began during his college years, organizing with Students and Workers United to raise the wages of university staff. Following college, Casar served as the policy director for the Workers Defense Project. 

Casar has listed housing reforms, labor rights and criminal justice reform as some of the most important issues of his campaign. In 2015, Casar wrote an ordinance requiring companies to pay for sick leave, a bill that was hailed as a significant win in progressive policy.

Casar lives in Austin with his fiancée, Asha, and their dog, Coco.

— Ben Johansen

Rep.-elect Wesley Hunt (R-Texas-38)

DATE OF BIRTH: Nov. 13, 1981
RESIDENCE: Houston
OCCUPATION: veteran
EDUCATION: B.S., U.S. Military Academy; MBA, MPA, MILR, Cornell University
FAMILY: wife, Emily Hunt; two children

• Rep.-elect Wesley Hunt (R) defeated his Democratic opponent Duncan Klussmann, winning Texas’s newly created 38th District north of Houston.

Raised in Houston, Hunt attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and spent eight years in the Army. He was honorably discharged as a captain before attending Cornell University and earning a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Public Administration and a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Hunt supports border security measures including the completion of the wall on the Texas-Mexico border. He says he is an advocate for law enforcement and the pro-life cause.

The veteran also says he will support stronger infrastructure to defend against natural disasters and flooding.

Hunt will be the third Black Republican currently serving in the House, joining Reps. Byron Donalds (Fla.) and Burgess Owens (Utah), both of whom won reelection this year.

— Chloe Folmar