The Texan Podcast - Congressional Candidate Jace Yarbrough at the Texas GOP 2026 State Convention

Episode Date: June 24, 2026

Texas Congressional District 32 Republican candidate Jace Yarbrough joined The Texan's Reporter Meridith Dyer at the Republican Party of Texas' 2026 state convention to discuss the 2025 congressional redistricting, what he hopes to accomplish in Congress, what he thinks the Texas delegation and the Republican Party should do going forward, and more.Listen to more interviews from The Texan wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what you hear, follow us and leave a review.

All right, so thank you for joining us at the Texan News. I am here with Republican nominee for CD32, JCRBrow, which is a newly redrawn district. And so tell us what has it been like and how has it affected your campaign and being in a flipped district like that. Well, I was gratified to see the Texas Republican Party go on offense and decide to do to the left what they've been doing to us for decades now. The left is very good at using power to tilt the playing field, such that they have an advantage even before the fighting starts. And I think the redistricting effort here in Texas is well-timed. It's exactly what the party should be doing. I'm gratified to be able to play a small part in making sure that those efforts don't go to waste.

So it's an honor to be the party's nominee in the New Texas 32. I'm proud to say that current Democrat congresswoman Julie Johnson will not be returning to Congress in the fall. And we are committed to doing everything we can to ensure that we win in November. What is that like campaigning in a district? You're going out. They used to be Democrat. No, they're Republican. What is that like?

Well, the first thing is just to give people information. A lot of people are confused. Which district are I in? Who currently represents me? How is this possible? And I think the second thing, right, is there's some trepidation in the eastern part of the district. They're more rural counties, very conservative counties. They're concerned, well, we got tied in with, you know, these Dallasites.

Does that mean that our congressional districts? district is now blue. And then the folks on the Dallas side, you know, the GOP activists, grassroots folks on the ground, the message that we bring resonates with them. They're excited about it, but they're not accustomed to being able to sort of, for lack of a better term, go so hard in the paint on a lot of good core Republican conservative issues. And there's kind of a delight when you tell them, no, actually, you're now in an R plus 10. Like a safe space for that. You could describe it that way sure and uh you know the president if we if we'd had this district drawn when he ran in 24 would want it by 17 right so uh that that's always good news to bring to them but the reception is very good

and and lots of great people in uh in this district it's it's it's a place i want the wider party to be able to come for reinforcements both in terms of vote margin enthusiasm and energy and resources okay so as a freshman congressman what are you what are you hoping to accomplish Well, there are some policy things I think that go along with being an America first candidate and continuing the president's agenda. I certainly am in that lane. So national identity, immigration and visa reform, these are things that I'm going to be very focused on. Affordability, America first economics, recognizing that governments, and unfortunately sometimes even the American government has been working against the interests of average Americans and the American middle class when it comes to economic policy. And we want to make sure that free markets do, in fact, exist.

in our country and that our consumers can benefit both in terms of the jobs and industries that are available to them as workers and the quality of the products and services available to them as consumers. And so that'll be a big piece of it. And then ensuring that the President's America First Abroad agenda is also supported. But I think the real distinction is in I am somebody who understands that every day it's my job to figure out how can I take the fight to the left. where are they gaining ground that we're not?

How can we do and use the tactics that they've been using more effectively to advance the conservative agenda? Because for so long, the Republican Party has been primarily concerned with defense. And the results of that, unfortunately, has been slow loss over time. And our culture is disintegrating and coming apart. We have to do something about it. And playing defense isn't enough. You've got to go on offense.

You have to take ground. You have to stand for something and have a vision. And that's what I want to be a part of. So speaking of going on the offense, how do you feel you're going to work with the Texas delegation in Congress as a group? I think there's a lot to be said for the Texas delegation returning to the kind of influence that it once had. It was a very powerful delegation not too long ago, and we have a huge incoming freshman class from Texas. I've been encouraged by the conversations and relationships we've already started to build within that delegation. There were some very, very good people, very good patriots and servants in that, in the United States.

that crew and I want to I want to stand with them and fight with them for um you know what's best for our country what's best for Texas and given the state we're coming from I want our influence to shift the wider conference to the right and I want um you know the conservative Republican party's position on any number of issues to become more mainstream and more adopted I mean that that's ultimately the goal and what kind of committee assignments are you interested in given my background of you know taking the fight to the left right judiciary something I think makes a lot of sense and chairman Jim Jordan has been somebody who got behind us early has been supportive and encouraging in those and those endeavors and so

I think I'd be honored to serve on the Judiciary Committee there are other needs that the conference has and I've got parts of my background that would make sense for other places obviously our district is one in which there's massive and rapid development so transportation infrastructure are important to us got a number of veterans in Texas 32 that are in a phase of life where they're using their health care benefits. So I want to be an advocate for those issues as well, whether that means armed services or veterans affairs, TNI, oversight. I think there are any number of other committees we could serve on, but here ultimately to do what needs to be done. And if the Republicans

lose the majority in the House, how will this affect your term? Well, nobody wants to be in the minority. You know, you want to have power so that you can implement policies effectively. It's no secret that if the Democrats do in fact secede in gaining the House, that impeachments will come frequently. There will be many of them. And so a lot of our time will be spent fighting and defending, fighting for and defending those who have been a key part of what the president has been able to do and many of his successes. I'd be proud to be a servant in that way I think that public service, particularly in the Article 2 branch, is something that we should prize for our children, for those who, you know, give up successful careers in the private sector

to come and serve their country in that way. And so I want to stand full-throatedly, as I have in the past, with the president, with his team, and use whatever experiences or legal talent and skills that I've developed in their service. And last question, is there anything that you, whenever you get the microphone, you want to like, not just share, but maybe correct? As you've been in the campaign trail, like, is there anything that you always want to leave people with that might be a correction or a statement or something like that? Yeah.

Well, I think America is, America is fundamentally a Christian nation. And I think the Republican Party is the party that stands unabashedly for that heritage. I'm proud to be a Republican for that reason. and there is someone in the party who are discouraged and concerned about what the polls look like right now, what sort of the long-term trajectory for us. And I would say at the end of the day, I think the bones of the fight are in our favor. We ultimately are motivated by the things we want to conserve and protect and defend because we love them. We love this place.

We love being American. It means something different to be an American than to be British or South African or, you know, Somalian and those loves are our animating principle. I think that makes us stronger than it makes the left, who, in my opinion, is fundamentally motivated by the things that it hates. Because it hates America, it is willing to make common cause with those who prize transgender rights and at the same time support and praise those who are radical Muslims. Those two ideologies are completely incompatible and yet they exist with the within the same camp because they're both tools for destroying America. And I think the side that's ultimately motivated by the things that loves and wants to see furthered and made stronger is going to win over the long haul. So as a Christian, despair is not an option. Despair is a sin.

I don't despair. I hope. And I think the future belongs to those who have hope and can give hope to their children. And I think that's us. And so be encouraged to be the happier warriors that we need to be. Doesn't mean we back down at all. Go and fight harder. But this fight is it's ours to win and we should go win it.

Okay, well, thank you for joining us. We'll be following your campaign into November and reporting on that. Thanks, Meredith. Appreciate it.