Mark Teixeira, a 14-year MLB veteran and three-time All-Star, won a seat in the United States House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Teixeira, running as a Republican, defeated Democratic nominee Kristin Hook in Texas’ 21st Congressional District, which covers an area west of Austin and San Antonio. He will succeed Republican Chip Roy after Roy chose not to seek reelection.
The fifth overall pick by the Rangers in the 2001 Draft, Teixeira spent five years with Texas before being traded to the Braves and then the Angels. He signed with the Yankees in 2009, where he became a World Series champion in his first year in the Bronx. In total, Teixeira hit 409 home runs and won five Gold Gloves, as well as three Silver Sluggers.
Teixeira joins a small list of former MLB players who have held seats in Congress. That group includes Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning, who served in both chambers of Congress as a Kentucky representative, and Fred Brown, an early 20th-century ballplayer who served as a New Hampshire representative in the Senate and later as the state’s governor.
In the 2026 midterm elections, former MLB pitcher Matt Shoemaker also won a political race. He was elected to the third of three open seats on the Saline Area Schools Board of Education in Michigan. He won by just 28 votes in a narrow race, according to The Sun Times News.
Shoemaker, 40, was a nine-year MLB veteran, spending time with the Angels, Blue Jays and Twins. He was born in Michigan and played his high school and college ball in the state.