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LiberalMind endorses Tom Sell — as unproven in elected office, and on watch
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and voting is already underway in Texas. This is the whole race — the records, the claims against each candidate, and what the sources actually show. Read the research, and decide which flaw you can live with.
The setup
Texas's 19th District — the Lubbock and Abilene seat in West Texas — is an open seat. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R), first elected in 2016 and chair of the House Budget Committee, retired: he announced on November 11, 2025, "I am announcing I will not be seeking reelection."
This is the only Texas district the 2025 redistricting plan left untouched, so its baseline did not change with the new map. No specific 2024 presidential percentage for the district was located in the sources consulted, so none is printed here. It is a safe-Republican open seat.
The two nominees: Tom Sell (R), who advanced from the Republican primary with 40.42% and won the runoff 64–36 over Abraham Enriquez, and Kyle Rable (D). The money favors Sell by a wide margin in the file: he raised $2,502,266 through October 14, 2026.
Tom Sell (Republican)
The record: Sell has never held elected office in the file. Per his campaign biography, he was a top aide to former Rep. Larry Combest, working on the 2002 Farm Bill and the Crop Insurance Reform Act of 2000 while Combest chaired House Agriculture, and he later co-founded a Lubbock firm with Combest serving West Texas producers. He holds a Texas Tech agribusiness bachelor's degree and a law degree.
Pros: Deep, district-specific work on farm and crop-insurance policy — the economic core of West Texas — built over years alongside the congressman who previously held influence in this region, plus a clean runoff win and a $2.5 million campaign.
Cons: There is no elected record to check. No votes, no office, no budget of his own. The policy experience is staff experience, described in campaign biography.
The flaw, plainly: Sell is unproven in elected office — a watch-closely posture under our rules, never a demerit. Voters are buying expertise and direction; both get audited against a first term.
Kyle Rable (Democratic)
The record: Rable is, per his campaign biography, a Texas Tech PhD candidate, a U.S. Army Reserves captain, a member of CWA Local 6186, and a former secretary of the Lubbock County Democratic Party. No prior elected office is located in the file.
Pros: Military service as a Reserves captain, graduate study at the district's university, and union membership — a biography rooted in Lubbock institutions.
Cons: No service record exists in which a break with his party toward our values could be documented — the Manchin test reads service, and there is none here. What he offers in a safe-Republican seat is his party's program.
The flaw, plainly: Rable asks voters to hand a safe-Republican open seat to the opposing party's program on the strength of a campaign biography. There is nothing else in the file to weigh.
OUR CALL
LiberalMind endorses Tom Sell — as unproven in elected office, and on watch.
An open, safe-Republican seat, one candidate with years of West Texas farm-policy work and a decisive runoff win, the other carrying the Democratic program with no documented break toward our values. The doctrine answers it directly. Sell's lack of an elected record is priced openly above: it is the reason for the watch, not a reason to hand the seat across the aisle.
This race is one of hundreds in LiberalMind's Election 2026 coverage. For the complete breakdown — every race, claim by claim — go to liberalmindhq.com.
Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Sources
- The Green Papers — Texas 2026 General Election (roster from the Texas Secretary of State; Arrington's retirement; Sell's 40.42% primary advancement; Sell's $2,502,266 raised through Oct. 14)
- The Ballot Brief — Texas Sample Ballot 2026 (Sell and Rable biographies, summarizing campaign-site material)
- Wikipedia — "2026 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas"
- Ellis Insight — Republican runoff result (Sell 64%–36% over Abraham Enriquez)
- Ballotpedia News — retiring incumbents list (Arrington, announced Nov. 11, 2025)
- Down Ballot, via search excerpt — TX-19 as the only district the 2025 plan left untouched
Winner: Tom Sell (Republican) — called by the Associated Press. This result was appended on November 4, 2026 (results wave 1); the original article above is unchanged, exactly as published before Election Day.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.