McCaul to forgo 2026 reelection bid, seeking ‘new challenge’
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who has represented Texas’s 10th Congressional District as 2004 and serves as chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland security committees, announced he will not seek reelection in 2026. McCaul made this declaration on ABC’s “This Week,” expressing that after over two decades in Congress, he is looking for a new challenge, particularly within the realms of national security and foreign policy but outside of his current congressional role. McCaul has a background as a federal prosecutor and texas’s deputy attorney general focused on counterterrorism and national security. He won the 2024 election comfortably but will finish his current term ending in january 2027 before stepping down.His decision follows a trend of Texas Republicans, including Rep. Morgan Luttrell and Rep. Chip Roy, choosing not to run for another House term in 2026, with Roy instead pursuing Texas attorney general.
McCaul to forgo 2026 reelection bid, seeking ‘new challenge’
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) announced he will not be seeking reelection in 2026, stepping away from serving Texas‘s 10th Congressional District after over two decades in the seat.
McCaul was first elected to Congress in 2004 and serves as chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security committees. He became the second Texas congressman in the past week to announce his retirement at the end of his term after Rep. Morgan Luttrell‘s (R-TX) move Thursday. McCaul made the announcement on ABC’s This Week on Sunday.
“It’s been an honor to serve for over two decades in the Congress. I’m looking now for a new challenge,” McCaul said.
Texas voters have chosen McCaul in every election since his first bid in 2004, and his current term expires in January 2027.
McCaul served as a federal prosecutor, Texas’s deputy attorney general, and chief of counterterrorism and national security in the Western District of Texas before making his run for Congress. McCaul said he is looking to stay in foreign policy but not in his current role in the House.
“I’m going to serve the remainder of my term, but I’m looking for a new challenge in the same space; that would be national security and foreign policy but just in a different realm,” McCaul said. “I want to continue to serve the people of this country in national security and foreign policy and do what I’ve done the last two decades: make America stronger and the world safer.”
McCaul handily won the 2024 Republican primary with 72.1% of the vote, then defeated his general election challenger, Democratic real estate agent Teresa Boisseau, with 63.6% of the vote.
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“My father’s service in World War II inspired me to pursue a life of public service, with a focus on defending our great nation against global threats, and I have been proud to carry out that mission in Congress for more than two decades,” McCaul wrote on X.
McCaul is the latest in line of Texas Republicans opting out of a 2026 House run. In addition to Luttrell, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) announced in August he would not seek another House term. Instead, Roy is running for Texas attorney general to succeed Ken Paxton, who is running for Senate.
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