The Republicans just added an imposing bat for next year’s Congressional Baseball Game.
Mark Teixeira, the former hard-hitting first baseman for the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, won his election Tuesday to represent Texas’ 21st Congressional District.
Teixeira defeated Kristin Hook, a former scientist for the National Institutes of Health, in his first political race.
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The 46-year-old acquired 54.5% of the vote with 99% of precincts reporting.
Teixeira won March’s Republican primary for the seat in a landslide after announcing his candidacy in August 2025.
“Together, we can build a better future for our families, our neighbors, and every community across Texas 21,” Teixeira said on social media. “I’m excited to get to work. I will be praying for all of you and for the future of this great nation. God bless Texas, and God bless America.”
The Annapolis, Maryland, native started his 14-year career as a first-round pick of the Rangers, earning his first All-Star nod along with two Gold Gloves and a pair of Silver Slugger awards during a five-year stint in Texas. He then signed a sizable eight-year, $180 million deal with the Yankees in 2008.
Teixeira helped lead New York to its most recent World Series triumph in 2009, slugging an AL-best 39 homers during the championship campaign. He retired after the 2016 season with a career .268 average to accompany 409 home runs and 1,298 RBIs.
In his initial announcement to run for Congress, the first-time politician pledged to focus on the Southern border and fight “radical woke indoctrination.”
Teixeira was not the only candidate familiar to sports fans running for election this year.
Former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, also a Republican, defeated Democrat Doug Jones in Alabama’s gubernatorial race. Tuberville, who also coached at Ole Miss and Texas Tech before ending his career with Cincinnati, previously defeated Jones in a Senate race in 2020.
In Minnesota, former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya lost her Senate race against Democrat Peggy Flanagan. Tafoya — who, like Teixeira and Tuberville, ran as a Republican — most recently hosted a podcast after spending 19 seasons covering primetime games with NBC Sports and ESPN.
“As Minnesota’s senator, I will clean up the system, fighting corruption, ending the fraud and protecting your tax dollars,” Tafoya said in January as she launched her campaign. “I will protect what’s fair and safe, standing with our law enforcement officers, deporting dangerous criminals and keeping female sports for female athletes.”
Former NFL kicker and CBS Sports analyst Jay Feely, another Republican, woke up on Wednesday morning still waiting for the final results of his race in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. Democrat Amish Shah held a narrow lead at 10 a.m. Wednesday, with 85% of precincts reporting results.
• This story is based in part on wire service reports.
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