What it would take for Caitlin Rourk.
Gober starts 20.1 points ahead on our starting line from recent official results. Campaign work can move about 7,112 net votes toward Rourk, a 2.7-point gain. Winning outright would take a 17.3-point national wave on top of that. Here is the plan that makes Rourk the one standing if one comes.
A long shot on the math: it takes a 17.3-point national wave.
129,876 votes.
That is half of the 259,751 ballots we expect in this race, plus one. Where Rourk stands today, and what is missing:
Starting line: a weighted blend of the official 2022 and 2024 results in this district (President, U.S. Senate, Railroad Commissioner, Governor, Attorney General). No 2026 polls have been published. 2026 turnout modeled on 2022, the last midterm.
<1% today. A wave changes that.
We ran this race 20,000 times with realistic error on every assumption. Drag the slider to see the odds move as the campaign captures more of what history says is available.
Each simulation draws the starting line with an error of 7 points of margin (no 2026 polls, so the starting line comes from history and carries more error) and lets the plan over- or under-deliver by 30 percent. Seeded and reproducible; the method and data are at the bottom of the page.
The gap closes three ways.
Change minds. Bring out voters who skip midterms. Win back the third-party vote. Every pool below is counted from official precinct returns and published polls.
Who. 4,256 voters who split their ticket in recent elections and lean Gober today.
How. Live conversations on the call list that matters: voters who crossed party lines, plus the undecided. Rourk needs to win 50 percent of the ones now leaning Gober.
Who. At least 18,151 people who voted in 2024 but not in 2022, in precincts where Rourk's side wins at least 55 percent.
How. Voter ID calls to people who voted in 2024 and skipped 2022, then a ballot chase until each one has voted.
Who. Voters who went third party in recent races, in the precincts that lean Rourk's way.
How. A direct appeal to voters who went third party last time. They have already shown they will leave the two-party default.
Together: 7,112 net votes against a gap of 52,107. Still 44,995 short. The rest needs a national shift of about 17.3 points that no campaign controls.
12 precincts carry 22% of it.
Ranked by the net votes each one gives the plan. The darker the county, the more of the upset lives there.
- 01+175Precinct 231 (Travis County)persuadeStarting line Rourk +25. 9.6% split their ticket. About 321 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 02+171Precinct 230 (Travis County)persuadeStarting line Rourk +43. 7.6% split their ticket. About 379 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 03+145Precinct 253 (Travis County)mobilizeStarting line Rourk +41. 3.1% split their ticket. About 875 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 04+133Precinct 380 (Travis County)persuadeStarting line Rourk +38. 6.2% split their ticket. About 341 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 05+126Precinct 290 (Travis County)persuadeStarting line Gober +1. 7.4% split their ticket.
- 06+124Precinct 354 (Travis County)persuadeStarting line Rourk +29. 5.1% split their ticket. About 382 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 07+123Precinct 382 (Travis County)mobilizeStarting line Rourk +51. 4.2% split their ticket. About 401 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 08+122Precinct 184 (Travis County)mobilizeStarting line Rourk +48. 3.1% split their ticket. About 584 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 09+115Precinct 320 (Travis County)persuadeStarting line Rourk +23. 5.7% split their ticket. About 393 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 10+112Precinct 322 (Travis County)persuadeStarting line Rourk +28. 6.3% split their ticket. About 338 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 11+111Precinct 270 (Travis County)persuadeStarting line Rourk +21. 4.7% split their ticket. About 551 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 12+107Precinct 20 (Brazos County)mobilizeStarting line Rourk +26. 3.8% split their ticket. About 984 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
The hidden path.
Precinct 231 (Travis County) carries the most.
Precinct 231 (Travis County) gives this plan more net votes than any other precinct: 175. It sits at Rourk +25 on our starting line, and 9.6 percent of its voters split their ticket in recent elections.
Precinct 253 (Travis County) is a turnout race.
Rourk's side leads Precinct 253 (Travis County) by about 41 points on our starting line, and it cast about 875 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (an estimate). Roughly that many of its 2024 voters sat out the last midterm; bringing enough of them back nets 119 votes there.
The money is close.
As of June 30, 2026, Gober had $120K in cash on hand to Rourk's $92K. A race this close on money is decided on voter contact.
The honest math.
Every lever at its historical ceiling moves 7,112 net votes. The gap is 52,107. That is the measure of what a strong campaign adds: 2.7 points of margin, and first position if the national mood breaks.
Where voters cross over.
Every dot is a precinct. If no one split a ticket, every dot would sit on the line. The orange ones are where Rourk's side lost voters it won further up the ballot.
- Precincts
- 319
- Slope
- 1.011
- R²
- 0.998
- Residual SD
- 1.7 pts
- Crossover precincts
- 51
Weighted least squares, one point per precinct, weighted by ballots cast. Orange precincts sit more than one residual standard deviation below the line: Rourk's side did worse there in this race than the top of the ticket predicts. Hover any dot for the precinct.
Voting starts October 19.
- Now to October 5Find them
Voter ID calls across the persuasion list in these precincts. Every conversation tags the voter: with Rourk, with Gober, or undecided. The undecided become the persuasion universe; the supporters become the ballot chase list.
- October 6 to 18Persuade
Second conversations with every undecided and soft voter, built around the one issue they named on the first call. The goal is 4,256 net votes from people who have crossed party lines before.
- October 19 to 25Bank the ballots
Mail ballots are already going out, and in-person early voting runs October 19 through October 30. Mail ballot applications must be received by October 23. Chase every supporter's mail ballot request until it is returned, and move supporters to early voting while it is open.
- October 26 to November 2Turn them out
The drop-off voters: people who voted in 2024 and skipped 2022. At least 18,151 of them live where Rourk is favored. In-person early voting ends October 30. Mail ballots count if received by 7 p.m. on November 3, or by 5 p.m. on November 4 if postmarked by Election Day.
- November 3Election day
Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Texas has no same-day registration; the registration deadline is October 5. The last calls go to identified supporters who have not voted, with their polling place in hand.
No wishful thinking.
Official results in this district: Trump carried the 2024 presidential race by 22.6 points; Cruz carried the 2024 U.S. Senate race by 19.2 points; Abbott carried the 2022 governor's race by 19.6 points.
- Rourk wins 50 percent of the ticket splitters now leaning Gober.
- In Precinct 253 (Travis County) and Precinct 184 (Travis County), 35 percent of the people who voted in 2024 but skipped 2022 come back and vote.
- The national environment moves about 17.3 points toward Rourk's side between now and November 3.
- No 2026 public poll exists for this race, so the starting line is a weighted blend of official recent results; the first real poll will move it.
3,172 conversations.
That is how many live voter conversations this plan takes: about 60,527 dials to 20,176 households, before the last ballot is cast.
Call list: every ticket splitter and undecided voter in the targeted places (you cannot tell which way they lean before the call), every targeted drop-off voter, and the reachable third-party voters. About 69 households for every 100 voters on the list, three attempts each, and a 5.24 percent live answer rate per attempt, the per-program average across 1.2 million real 2026 dials in our published benchmarks.
We run this list.
Calls are the voter ID and ballot chase engine of this plan. They find the persuadable voters and the supporters, so every other dollar lands on the right door. The full call program for this list is an estimated $6,997 at our published rates: 20,176 households, three attempts each.
Professional live callers working exactly these precincts: persuasion on the ticket splitters, voter ID on the fence, ballot chase on every absentee request until it is returned. A live dashboard shows every conversation as it happens. Days to launch, not weeks.
Who is on the ballot.
Caitlin Rourk (D)
U.S. Army veteran of the Army Reserve and Texas Army National Guard and former Dell Technologies communications professional, with degrees from the University of Chicago and UT Austin's McCombs School; won the March 3 primary with 60.8 percent.
Cash on hand $92,140 and $363,959 raised since January 1, 2025, per FEC reports through June 30, 2026.
Chris Gober (R)
Seventh-generation Texan and political-law attorney with degrees from Texas A&M and Harvard Law who founded a national conservative law firm and served as director and chief lawyer of America PAC; won the March 3 primary with 51.2 percent and is endorsed by President Trump.
Cash on hand $119,627 and $2,559,185 raised since January 1, 2025, per FEC reports through June 30, 2026.
What changed, and when.
We re-run this race as new polls, fundraising reports and early vote counts arrive. Every change to the numbers is logged here.
- September 26, 2026Underdog plan published
Starting line: Gober +20.0. Caitlin Rourk needs 52,012 net votes. Odds under 1% today, 1% with the plan.
Questions
Can Caitlin Rourk win Texas's 10th Congressional District in 2026?
Only with help from the national environment. Campaign work can move about 7,112 net votes; the gap is 52,107. The rest would take a 17.3-point national shift.
Where are the votes Caitlin Rourk needs?
Ranked by net votes in the plan: Precinct 231 (Travis County), Precinct 230 (Travis County), Precinct 253 (Travis County), Precinct 380 (Travis County), Precinct 290 (Travis County). Persuadable voters are counted from ticket splitting in 2022 and 2024 official returns; turnout targets are people who voted in 2024 and skipped 2022.
How many voters does Caitlin Rourk need to persuade?
About 2,128 voters who lean Chris Gober today, each worth two votes of margin when they switch. That is 50 percent of the 4,256 persuadable voters leaning Chris Gober.
When does early voting start in Texas in 2026?
In-person early voting in Texas runs October 19 through October 30, 2026. The voter registration deadline is October 5, and applications for a mail ballot must be received by October 23. Mail ballots count if received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, or by 5 p.m. the next day if postmarked by Election Day. Texas does not offer same-day registration.
Who made this analysis?
The Political Group, an independent campaign services firm, from official Texas Secretary of State precinct returns, Census data, FEC filings and published polls. It is not affiliated with any candidate or party.
Method and sources
Precinct math from official Texas Secretary of State returns for 2022 and 2024, projected onto current district lines. Polls, ratings and fundraising as published on the dates shown. This is independent analysis by The Political Group, as of September 26, 2026. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by any candidate or party, and it is written for every campaign that starts behind.
Statistics: a weighted least squares crossover regression on every precinct, and 20,000 seeded Monte Carlo simulations. The baseline error (7 points of margin) and plan efficacy spread (30 percent) are our stated assumptions. Download the precinct data (CSV, ready for JASP). Free to cite under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page.
- Texas Secretary of State, election results
- Texas Legislative Council redistricting (PLANC2333)
- FEC candidate filings (OpenFEC)
- 2026 voter contact benchmarks (The Political Group)
Race coverage
- Wikipedia: Texas's 10th congressional district
- Ballotpedia: Texas' 10th Congressional District election, 2026
- Ballotpedia: Chris Gober
- Ballotpedia: Caitlin Rourk