It’s been over a week since the primary runoff election confirmed Tom Sell as the Republican nominee for Texas’ U.S. Congressional District 19, and outgoing Republican congressman Jodey Arrington said he’s already feeling lighter.
“It's been a great run, 10 years,” Arrington said. “A tremendous honor to represent the people of West Texas.”
Arrington said he’s known Sell for more than 30 years, since they went to Texas Tech together.
“He has some unique experiences, having served in Washington. One of my predecessors, Congressman Larry Combest, was chairman of the Ag Committee, and Tom was the lead staffer that ran the Ag Committee,” Arrington said. “So Tom has forgotten more about Ag Policy than most people know.”
It’s that knowledge of how to negotiate federal agriculture policy that has built a career for Sell as an agriculture lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and Arrington said that experience gives Sell a few advantages.
“Tom Sell has worked on a farm bill before,” Arrington said. “I mean, not many candidates for Congress, including myself, have had that experience.”
The experience as a lobbyist and years of work in the Capitol were also the basis of arguments from District 19 voters against Sell, who felt the “insider” connections were part of why Sell’s campaign raised more funds than his primary runoff opponent, Abraham Enriquez. Sell’s campaign raised over $2 million, more than three times what Enriquez raised. Enriquez saw his own share of criticism around the fundraising related to his nonprofit, Bienvenido US.
Still, the public back-and-forth between the two District 19 Republican candidates remained relatively civil through the primary, a sharp contrast to other state GOP races. The Senate nomination race between incumbent John Cornyn and winner Ken Paxton was contentious enough that it sparked concerns leading into the primary about divisions within the party.
“I don't think there's a concern about that in our local Congressional race,” Arrington said. “I think for the Senate race that was the bigger question. You know, would John Cornyn have a better shot in the general? Was he – Listen, our Attorney General Ken Paxton is going to do well. There is no perfect candidate. Republicans will rally.”
He went on to say that all eyes will be on the race between Paxton and Democratic candidate James Talarico, but he is confident the state will favor GOP policies in the end.
Arrington did not endorse any candidates in the Republican primary, but after the runoff results, he said Enriquez has a “bright future.”
“His star is only going to rise as a result of this recent campaign, so I want to give a shout-out to him [and] Betty Cardenas, his mom. They've been working for this cause of freedom and fiscal responsibility, and limited government, and strong defense, and all the conservative principles that we think have made America great and prosperous,” Arrington said.
In a statement on social media the day after the election, Enriquez called the campaign “one of the greatest honors of [his] life.”
He congratulated Sell on his victory and said that he “[looks] forward to doing my part to help ensure Republicans win big in November and that West Texas continues to have strong conservative leadership.”
Sell said that shared values and a policy-based campaign were key points for him in the primary race.
“We just wanted to run a kind of a distinctly positive race,” Sell explained. “It's kind of different from much of the political culture that we know these days, and you know, I want West Texas to be a real light for the entire nation in that way.”
Sell praised Arrington for his work in highlighting other ways West Texas serves the nation and says he hopes to keep that momentum and spirit of collaboration.
“Jody Arrington has done such a great job of that, in kind of raising the profile of the food, fuel, and fiber capital of the world, right? That's our 19th District of Texas. And he's done such a great job of kind of carrying that reputation forward and having an outsized impact for the people of the 19th District by building relationships and participating in other people's races, and I certainly hope to build upon that,” he said.
Along with Arrington, Sell said he wants to champion the legacy of former Republican representatives for District 19 like Combest and Randy Neugebauer.
“I feel the weight of expectations on that,” Sell said. “The people of the 19th District expect a lot from their member of Congress. Not only to be a champion for conservative values that we know and love, and the productivity that we're known for in West Texas, but to do it in an honorable and good way.”
District 19 is considered one of the most conservative districts in Texas. Republicans have held the Congressional seat since 1985. But from the time it was established in 1935 up until 1985, the district was represented by Democratic Congressmen: George H. Mahon and Kent Hance.
Even after securing his win for the Republican nomination, Sell acknowledged his campaign isn’t over. Sell will be running against Democratic candidate Kyle Rable in the November general election. Rable ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Whatever the party, Arrington’s successor will be tasked with representing a largely rural district. Of the 33 counties included in District 19, 24 are recognized as rural by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“If our families don't have access to basic care in rural America, and we don't have a sustainable financial model for rural hospitals and providers then it's going to be tough to keep families that are there in support of the food, fuel, and fiber production that we do better than anyone,” he said.
Arrington authored legislation which created the Rural Health Transformation Program. Part of the One Big Beautiful Bill signed into law in 2025, the program allocated $50 billion to be given to state governments for the purpose of developing rural health infrastructure.
Despite the historic investment in rural health, many – including the National Rural Health Association and the health policy organization KFF – are concerned it’s not enough to offset the projected spending decreased in rural areas due to Medicaid cuts.
However, those Medicaid cuts address another of Arrington’s cornerstone issues: federal spending.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that over the next ten years, the bill will reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $900 billion.
Arrington has been Chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee since 2023, and earlier this year, he said in that time, the GOP have decreased the operating budget by $400 billion and cut $1.5 trillion in what he called “waste and fraud.”
“We made some progress. I'm very proud of it, but not enough to stave off a looming debt-related crisis,” he said. “So, Tom is going to need to grab the bull by the horns on that one, because everything's affected, farm bills, our defense policies and spending, our infrastructure, everything, will collapse if we go through a debt crisis.”
Fiscal reform has been a major focus of Arrington’s and he said he hopes the work is continued through reduced spending and “pro-growth policies.”
Arrington was first elected to represent Texas’ U.S. Congressional District 19 in 2016 and his current and final term will end in January 2027.
“Thank you, and your listeners, for the tremendous honor to represent you and your families and your colleagues in our nation's capital,” he said. “It's been an awesome run, and I know we've done some good together, but it was a team effort, and I'll cherish all these memories for the rest of my life.”