Jordan Wheatley

Jordan Wheatley is a public elementary school teacher and basketball coach from Dallas running this November to flip a seat in the Texas House. The son of a West Virginia coal miner and a school bus driver, Jordan learned early on that hard work and showing up are what matter. At fifteen, he stepped up to become his grandmother’s primary caregiver, and later ran his family’s business after his father lost his job. Jordan knows firsthand what it means to be there for people when it counts. Now, he’s ready to fight for Texas students and families by taking on the broken system in Austin.  

Texans are ready for new leadership, and Jordan is stepping up to challenge a deeply entrenched GOP incumbent in District 67. With nationwide support, Jordan and the wave of Democratic candidates he is a part of are primed to usher in a new era of progress in the Lone Star State.

Over the past decade, Democrats have been steadily building power in the Texas House, where Republicans have held a majority since 2002, and this year, Texas is home to some of our best opportunities to pick up seats and gain ground in a state’s legislature. 

In 2025, state Democrats in Texas used their minority power to take a stand against a blatant GOP mid-decade redistricting power-grab attempt by leaving the state and denying quorum. Every seat flipped blue strengthens Democrats’ ability to resist extreme legislation in Texas and push for policies to enact positive change. 

The DLCC has supported Democrats in Texas cycle over cycle, featuring 37 Texas candidates in our DLCC Target Races program since 2020. Early in 2026, Taylor Rehmet, a DLCC Target Race candidate for Texas Senate, achieved the first major flip of the year when he claimed victory in a district that voted overwhelmingly for Trump in the 2024 election.

This year, all 150 seats in the Texas House are on the ballot, and Democratic candidates have filed to run in every district, giving us a historic opportunity to build power in the chamber. Democrats would need to pick up 14 seats to take an outright majority, but every inch of ground gained puts us closer than ever to turning the tide in the Texas Legislature.