Profiles of GOP candidates,
Ivan Andarza practices law in Austin. Born in Brownsville, he earned a bachelor of business administration, with a major in finance, from the University of Texas in 1993 and his law degree from Baylor University in 1997. In 2007, he was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to serve on the board of the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corp. He served as board chair from 2010 to 2015. In 2013, he was appointed to the board of regents of the Texas State Technical College System, where he currently serves as vice chair.
Eric Burkhart has suspended but not terminated his campaign because of an unexpected family crisis that has made it impossible to attend campaign forums. He is a graduate of the Department of Justice Immigration Academy and worked on the bridge in Laredo as a federal immigration agent for two years. He was the only candidate who had filed to run before U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith announced his retirement.
Francisco “Quico” Canseco of San Antonio is a former member of Congress from the 23rd Congressional District. An attorney and businesssman who speaks five languages, Canseco was chairman of Texas Heritage Bancshares from 2001 until 2007. Canseco has since 1988 been president/ director of FMC Developers, which includes Canseco Investments.
Mauro Garza of San Antonio was formerly director of grants and contracts management at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio. In 2002, he founded Mauro M. Garza Enterprises Inc. and in 2010 founded Everett Holdings LLC. He has pointed to his experience running seven marathons on seven continents in seven days as proof that he has the stamina and endurance to serve in Congress.
Jason Isaac of Dripping Springs has served in the Texas House representing District 45 in the Texas Hill Country since 2013. Isaac graduated from Stephen F. Austin University in 1996 with a major in marketing and works as transportation consultant. He is president of the Central Texas Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse and a board member on the Dripping Springs Youth Sports Association.
Ryan Krause of New Braunfels leads Dream Big Facility, a leadership development and executive coaching company helping organizations and individuals raise leadership awareness and capacity for growth. He is executive director of the John Maxwell Team, which helps companies, nonprofits, schools and individuals grow their people and leadership skills. He is the former executive pastor of Palm Valley Church.
Matt McCall, 54, challenged U.S Rep. Lamar Smith in the Republican primary in 2014 and 2016. He is the founder of McCall International Medical, a company that supplies surgical products to U.S. military hospitals in Europe.
Susan Narvaiz of New Braunfels is former threeterm mayor of San Marcos and was a Republican candidate who challenged U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett in the 35th Congressional District in 2012, 2014 and 2016. In June 1997, she founded and is CEO of Core Strategies. Narvaiz is a past chair of the Capital Area Council of Governments.
William Negley, 34, is from San Antonio but is living in Austin while completing an executive master’s in business administration at the University of Texas. Negley served as an undercover CIA officer for seven years in Afghanistan and South Asia. He is the founder of Sound Off, a service organization created to help veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Al Poteet is a decorated combat helicopter pilot in Vietnam, former executive with Humana, and a former executive with the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he served during the Reagan administration as associate deputy administrator for congressional and intergovernmental affairs, and as a deputy assistant secretary. He was the VA regional office director in Waco and medical center director for the state of Alaska.
Autry Pruitt is a black Christian conservative political advocate and the author of the book “Planes, Steak & Water: Defending Donald J. Trump.”
Chip Roy of Dripping Springs is the former chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, former first assistant attorney general under Ken Paxton and a former senior advisor to Gov. Rick Perry. Most recently he was vice president of strategy for the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Jenifer Sarver of Austin grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, the daughter of a minister and an educator. She was a speechwriter for former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and served as executive director of the Archer Center, the academic home of the University of Texas System in Washington, D.C. She helped manage communications for Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez under President George W. Bush. In 2009, she moved back to Texas and was chief of staff to Karen Hughes, the worldwide vice chair of Burson-Marsteller.
Robert Stovall, born in Mexico City and raised in San Antonio, is the chief financial officer of Janal Wholesale Floral Co. In 2012, Stovall won the Republican nomination for Bexar County tax assessor but lost the general election. He was three times elected chairman of the Bexar County Republican Party, resigning to enter the congressional race. He was a Trump delegate at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Samuel Temple is a statistician who works for AT&T in San Antonio. Born and raised in Houston, he graduated from Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He later completed a master’s degree in statistics at Texas A&M. A political moderate, he believes his background in statistics can help him “bring the data back to the Republican Party.”
Peggy Wardlaw of San Antonio is a wife, mother, small business owner and petroleum engineer who worked in the oil fields in Texas, Alaska and Colorado. With her husband she started a family-owned business, Wardlaw Appraisals, in 1987.
Anthony White is a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel. Born in Los Angeles, White served as the assistant chief of staff for intelligence, 3d Marine Division, and was involved in U.S. Armed Forces humanitarian assistance and disaster relief support after Japan’s earthquake, tsunami disaster and nuclear crisis in March 2011.