Mark Teixeira, a Republican and former Major League Baseball first baseman who won the 2009 World Series with the New York Yankees, faces Democrat Kristin Hook for Texas's open 21st congressional district seat in 2026.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Mark Teixeira.
- Born
- April 11, 1980
- Birthplace
- Annapolis, Maryland
- Education
- Mount Saint Joseph High School
Georgia Institute of Technology
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Mark Teixeira, whose full name is Mark Charles Teixeira, was born on April 11, 1980, and grew up in Severna Park, Maryland, the son of Margaret "Margy" Canterna and John Teixeira. His paternal grandfather was an immigrant from Guyana, and his mother was of Italian descent.
He attended Mount Saint Joseph High School in Baltimore, where he played on the varsity baseball team.
The Boston Red Sox selected him in the ninth round of the 1998 draft, but he chose to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, and in 2000 he won the Dick Howser Trophy as the national collegiate baseball player of the year.
Career
The Texas Rangers drafted Teixeira fifth overall in 2001, and he made his major league debut on Opening Day in 2003, hitting 26 home runs as a rookie. In 2005 he reached career highs of 43 home runs and 144 RBI. The Rangers traded him to the Atlanta Braves in July 2007, and the Braves traded him to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in July 2008. In December 2008 he agreed to an eight-year contract with the New York Yankees.
In 2009 Teixeira led the American League in home runs and RBI, finished second in Most Valuable Player voting, and won the World Series with the Yankees. Over 14 seasons he was a three-time All-Star and won five Gold Glove Awards and three Silver Slugger Awards, and he holds the major league record of 14 games with a home run from both sides of the plate. Injuries limited him in later seasons, and he retired at the end of the 2016 season.
2026 race
Teixeira is the Republican nominee for Texas's 21st congressional district, which takes in the Texas Hill Country along with Comal County, most of Hays County and much of northwest San Antonio.
The seat is open because Republican incumbent Chip Roy ran for Texas attorney general in 2026 and lost in the primary. Teixeira won the Republican primary with 60.9% of the vote in a field that included businessman Jason Cahill and former Federal Election Commission commissioner Trey Trainor.
In the general election on November 3, 2026, he faces Democrat Kristin Hook, who won the Democratic primary with 60.1%.