Republican Brandon Gill will face Democrat Ernest Robinson Lineberger III for Texas’ U.S. Congressional District 26 seat. The two candidates are battling it out for a seat that Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, has held for more than two decades.
The former OB-GYN has been influential in energy and health care policy in Congress through posts on several committees. To finish out his term, Burgess is chair of the Rules Committee, which plays a major role in what bills make it to the floor.
Burgess has cited his work on stabilizing the Lewisville Lake Dam; the Children’s Health Insurance Program; reauthorization of the Food and Drug Administration; and ensuring Medicaid can cover mental health care as his biggest accomplishments in an interview with the Texas Tribune.
District 26 has seen its share of changes during Burgess’ term, as well. During redistricting efforts in 2021, the district, which included the city of Denton, was reworked to encompass all of Cooke County and about half of Wise County, with a tiny piece of Tarrant County.
Today, the district covers a large portion of Denton County, including the southwestern part of Denton as well as Lewisville, Corinth, Highland Village and Little Elm.
In the March primaries, Gill, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, handily won his spot on the ballot after defeating 11 Republican candidates.
Lineberger ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
In an interview with the Denton Record-Chronicle, Lineberger spoke about better immigration reform and budget cuts. Despite repeated attempts, Gill has yet to respond to the Record-Chronicle’s requests for interview or comments.
Ernest Robinson Lineberger III
Lineberger has 15 years of experience as a U.S. naval officer and more than 27 years at Texas Instruments in semiconductor manufacturing.
During the primary election, Lineberger said he would focus on supporting technological innovation, military veterans and economic growth. As reported previously, Lineberger said he doesn’t want to take away anyone’s guns, but wants to make sure they’re safe and secure.
Lineberger told the Record-Chronicle last week that he thinks the southern border needs to be secured but that there needs to be a focus on immigration reform as well.
He said he would support work visas and decreasing the time it takes to obtain U.S. citizenship. He said immigrants are a foundation of growing a stable economy.
“It [doesn’t] need to take that long to get good, vetted, hardworking people to become citizens in our country,” Lineberger said. “So that might be one thing that several people have talked to me about. The border — I’m 100% behind that. We definitely need to secure the border, but on the other hand, we definitely need to support immigration.”
As for Republican fears that Democrats focus too much on spending, Lineberger said he is open to pushing budget cuts to reduce the massive U.S. debt.
“I think people are afraid the Democrats are going to go and just spend a ton of money,” Lineberger said. “I don’t want to do that. I am very concerned about the budget and the $35 trillion debt, and we need to establish a budget early in the season, when it’s supposed to be done, and establish a fair and reasonable budget.”
Lineberger said Congress needs to stop holding hearings he considers distractions. Instead, he said, there should be congressional hearings where university officials are invited to speak about the cost of tuition and why it has increased so dramatically.
Brandon Gill
No runoff election was needed for the Republican nomination to U.S. Congressional District 26 as Gill cruised his way to the November ballot.
Gill is the founder of the DC Enquirer, a conservative website. Although a young candidate and new to the political scene, as well as North Texas, Gill has gained momentum as a fresh face.
He is endorsed by Trump, which his opponents in the primaries weren’t able to overcome. Sen. Ted Cruz and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have also endorsed Gill. He’s also the son-in-law of conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza.
Gill told the Texas Tribune in March that his plan was to follow Trump’s lead if elected.
“What President Trump is looking for right now, more than anything else, is he’s looking for somebody who’s going to go to bat for him in Congress, who’s going to defend him,” Gill said then. “Because the left is coming after President Trump with every single thing that they have.”
According to his campaign website, Gill has outlined building the border wall and tax remittances to pay for the wall’s construction; increasing the number of immigration judges to end the immigration backlog; and reforming asylum laws as his top priorities.
Gill has said previously said he will work toward reducing the deficit to under a trillion dollars a year and move toward a balanced budget by 2030, using tactics like cutting wasteful spending and auditing federal departments, and support a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Gill’s platform, which is both pro-gun and pro-life, includes allowing parents to determine school curricula.
Early voting for the Nov. 5 general election runs from Monday, Oct. 21, through Nov. 1.