What it would take for Mark Nair.
Jackson starts 47.1 points ahead on our starting line from recent official results. Campaign work can move about 4,366 net votes toward Nair, a 2.0-point gain. Winning outright would take a 45.1-point national wave on top of that. Here is the plan that makes Nair the one standing if one comes.
A long shot on the math: it takes a 45.1-point national wave.
108,949 votes.
That is half of the 217,896 ballots we expect in this race, plus one. Where Nair 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.
0% 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. 2,583 voters who split their ticket in recent elections and lean Jackson today.
How. Live conversations on the call list that matters: voters who crossed party lines, plus the undecided. Nair needs to win 50 percent of the ones now leaning Jackson.
Who. At least 10,108 people who voted in 2024 but not in 2022, in precincts where Nair'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 Nair'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: 4,366 net votes against a gap of 102,644. Still 98,278 short. The rest needs a national shift of about 45.1 points that no campaign controls.
12 precincts carry 35% of it.
Ranked by the net votes each one gives the plan. The darker the county, the more of the upset lives there.
- 01+325Precinct 4170 (Denton County)mobilizeStarting line Nair +73. 4.4% split their ticket. About 1,055 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 02+174Precinct 4174 (Denton County)mobilizeStarting line Nair +75. 4.6% split their ticket. About 584 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 03+148Precinct 4167 (Denton County)mobilizeStarting line Nair +43. 2.5% split their ticket. About 777 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 04+129Precinct 4187 (Denton County)mobilizeStarting line Nair +55. 4.8% split their ticket. About 541 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 05+126Precinct 4171 (Denton County)mobilizeStarting line Nair +69. 2.7% split their ticket. About 441 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 06+118Precinct 4169 (Denton County)mobilizeStarting line Nair +43. 2.3% split their ticket. About 615 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 07+109Precinct 4165 (Denton County)mobilizeStarting line Nair +39. 3.0% split their ticket. About 610 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 08+94Precinct 4043 (Denton County)mobilizeStarting line Nair +39. 2.9% split their ticket. About 597 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 09+87Precinct 1059 (Denton County)mobilizeStarting line Nair +16. 2.7% split their ticket. About 1,064 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 10+79Precinct 1061 (Denton County)mobilizeStarting line Nair +21. 2.6% split their ticket. About 721 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 11+67Precinct 4178 (Denton County)mobilizeStarting line Nair +26. 2.3% split their ticket. About 619 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
- 12+61Precinct 4166 (Denton County)mobilizeStarting line Nair +26. 3.7% split their ticket. About 465 more ballots in 2024 than in 2022 (estimate).
The hidden path.
Precinct 4170 (Denton County) carries the most.
Precinct 4170 (Denton County) gives this plan more net votes than any other precinct: 325. It sits at Nair +73 on our starting line, and 4.4 percent of its voters split their ticket in recent elections.
Precinct 4174 (Denton County) is a turnout race.
Nair's side leads Precinct 4174 (Denton County) by about 75 points on our starting line, and it cast about 584 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 147 votes there.
Precinct 4187 (Denton County) splits its ticket the most.
Of the precincts in this plan, Precinct 4187 (Denton County) has the highest share of ticket splitters: 4.8 percent. That is where a persuasion call is most likely to reach someone open to crossing over.
Spend it where it counts.
As of June 30, 2026, Jackson had $5.41 million in cash on hand to Nair's $14K. That is exactly why the plan puts every dollar on the few places listed here instead of the whole map.
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 Nair's side lost voters it won further up the ballot.
- Precincts
- 360
- Slope
- 1.022
- R²
- 0.998
- Residual SD
- 1.9 pts
- Crossover precincts
- 84
Weighted least squares, one point per precinct, weighted by ballots cast. Orange precincts sit more than one residual standard deviation below the line: Nair'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 Nair, with Jackson, 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 2,583 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 10,108 of them live where Nair 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 46.2 points; Cruz carried the 2024 U.S. Senate race by 42.7 points; Abbott carried the 2022 governor's race by 49.2 points.
- Nair wins 50 percent of the ticket splitters now leaning Jackson.
- In Precinct 4170 (Denton County) and Precinct 4174 (Denton County), 35 percent of the people who voted in 2024 but skipped 2022 come back and vote.
- The national environment moves about 45.1 points toward Nair'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.
1,805 conversations.
That is how many live voter conversations this plan takes: about 34,448 dials to 11,483 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 $5,124 at our published rates: 11,483 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.
Mark Nair (D)
Former Amarillo city councilman (2015 to 2017), inventor, entrepreneur and educator who received the 2020 Faculty Excellence Award at Amarillo College, where he taught economics and software development; holds two Texas A&M degrees and is a 30-year Amarillo resident.
Cash on hand $14,017 and $101,896 raised since January 1, 2025, per FEC reports through June 30, 2026.
Ronny Jackson (R)
U.S. representative for the 13th District since 2021 and a physician who served in the White House Medical Unit and as Physician to the President in the Obama and Trump administrations; a Levelland native with degrees from Texas A&M and the University of Texas Medical Branch.
Cash on hand $5,410,801 and $4,036,265 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: Jackson +47.1. Mark Nair needs 102,644 net votes. Odds 0% today, 0% with the plan.
Questions
Can Mark Nair win Texas's 13th Congressional District in 2026?
Only with help from the national environment. Campaign work can move about 4,366 net votes; the gap is 102,644. The rest would take a 45.1-point national shift.
Where are the votes Mark Nair needs?
Ranked by net votes in the plan: Precinct 4170 (Denton County), Precinct 4174 (Denton County), Precinct 4167 (Denton County), Precinct 4187 (Denton County), Precinct 4171 (Denton 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 Mark Nair need to persuade?
About 1,292 voters who lean Ronny Jackson today, each worth two votes of margin when they switch. That is 50 percent of the 2,583 persuadable voters leaning Ronny Jackson.
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)