# Wes Virdell

Wes Virdell is a Republican member of the Texas House for district 53.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Texas House, district 53
- Serving since: 2025-01-14
- Current term: TX 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/436ab2a5-12ca-4a9c-b8ec-73b1bae4ee68

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/436ab2a5-12ca-4a9c-b8ec-73b1bae4ee68 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Virdell missed 17% of 3,734 roll calls, attendance in the bottom tenth of the Texas House (average 93.1%).

## What Virdell says (TX 2025–26 session)

1,966 classified statements: 1,966 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Virdell | State House Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 6.0% | 2.9% | 127 of 791 |
| Policy criticism | 9.1% | 9.3% | 298 of 791 |
| Policy discussion | 21.5% | 31.9% | 533 of 791 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.3% | 1.8% | 526 of 791 |
| Credit claiming | 7.6% | 12.7% | 463 of 791 |
| Extreme labels | 0.8% | 1.4% | 330 of 791 |

Most discussed policy areas: Education 24% (State House Republicans 15%); Government Operations and Politics 16% (State House Republicans 18%); Economics and Public Finance 10.0% (State House Republicans 12%); Crime and Law Enforcement 9.7% (State House Republicans 11%); Law 7.8% (State House Republicans 3.1%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.59 (standard error 0.02), from 702 donors and 235 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 85% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (TX 2025–26 session)

3,734 roll calls. Attendance 83% (Texas House 93.1%). Party unity 92.5% (85%). 450 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2025-09-03 · voted nay · passage · HB 1 Relating to youth camp emergency plans and preparedness; authorizing penalties. · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB1/
- 2025-09-03 · voted nay · passage · SB 1 Relating to campground and youth camp safety. · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB1/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · passage · HB 8 Relating to public school accountability and transparency, including the implementation of an instructionally supportive assessment program and the… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB8/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · adopt the conference committee report on SB 5. · SB 5 Relating to making supplemental appropriations for disaster relief and preparedness and giving direction and adjustment authority regarding those… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB5/
- 2025-09-03 · voted nay · passage · HB 8 Relating to public school accountability and transparency, including the implementation of an instructionally supportive assessment program and the… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB8/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · concur in the senate amendments to HB 20. · HB 20 Relating to measures to prevent and reduce fraudulent charitable solicitations and theft during declared disasters, including establishing a designation… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB20/
- 2025-09-03 · voted yea · passage · SB 1 Relating to campground and youth camp safety. · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB1/
- 2025-09-03 · voted nay · concur in the senate amendments to HB 1. · HB 1 Relating to youth camp emergency plans and preparedness; authorizing penalties. · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB1/
- 2025-09-02 · voted yea · passage · SB 54 Relating to election procedures regarding accepting a voter with a residence address that is not current and the immediate effect of a voter's… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/SB54/
- 2025-09-02 · voted yea · passage · HB 18 Relating to a restriction on the acceptance of political contributions and the making of certain political expenditures by a member of the legislature… · pass · https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB18/

## Legislation (TX 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 84 bills: 70 reached committee, 29 passed one chamber, 8 passed both, 8 became law. Cosponsored 186. 34.5% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Texas House 48.5%; rank 120 of 145).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HB 287: Relating to the authority of a political subdivision to acquire real property for the taking or transportation of water. (introduced, 2025-08-21) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB287/
- HB 286: Relating to a study and report by the Texas Water Development Board, in consultation with certain other entities, of risks from and solutions to flooding. (introduced, 2025-08-21) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB286/
- HB 254: Relating to eligibility of a political subdivision for a grant from the Rural Infrastructure Disaster Recovery Program. (passed one chamber, 2025-08-27) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB254/
- HB 217: Relating to the creation of a flood recovery loan program to provide low-interest loans to persons who are victims of flood-related disasters. (in committee, 2025-08-20) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB217/
- HCR 2: In memory of the victims of the July 2025 Hill Country floods. (became law, 2025-09-17) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HCR2/
- HB 191: Relating to a preference in state purchasing for certain goods and services used in a disaster area. (in committee, 2025-08-20) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB191/
- HR 24: Honoring the search and rescue team from Fundación 911 of Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, for its assistance in the response to the July 4, 2025, Hill Country… (passed one chamber, 2025-08-28) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HR24/
- HB 232: Relating to establishment of the disaster recovery fund. (in committee, 2025-08-20) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB232/
- HB 25: Relating to a pharmacist's authority to dispense ivermectin without a prescription. (became law, 2025-09-17) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/892/HB25/
- HB 309: Relating to the maintenance of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather alert radios by certain campgrounds, hotels, and recreational… (introduced, 2025-08-15) https://openstates.org/tx/bills/891/HB309/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $172.7K (State House Republicans median $33.7K). 98% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · labels: personal attacks, policy discussion · https://x.com/wesvirdelltx/status/2114731647551656232
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/wesvirdelltx/status/2114733170402656537
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · labels: personal attacks · https://x.com/wesvirdelltx/status/2114746982900363647
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/wesvirdelltx/status/2114747233593958607
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/wesvirdelltx/status/2114747452385337592
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/wesvirdelltx/status/2114747856418484466
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/wesvirdelltx/status/2114777431366041669
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/wesvirdelltx/status/2114777761059348660
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/wesvirdelltx/status/2114778060717212015
- 2026-10-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/wesvirdelltx/status/2114778208444744046

## Links

- Official site: https://house.texas.gov/members/4775
- Campaign site: https://virdellfortexas.com/
- X: https://x.com/wesvirdelltx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wesvirdellfortexas/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wes_virdell/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesley-virdell-a6979420a/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/436ab2a5-12ca-4a9c-b8ec-73b1bae4ee68