As the Texas Legislature wraps up the 2025 regular session, one name continues to rise through the conservative ranks: Senator Mayes Middleton.
The Galveston-based Republican was just ranked the second most conservative member of the Texas Senate by a study from The Texas Tribune. This distinction could further boost his political prospects.
Middleton, a former House member and longtime ally of the state’s conservative base, trailed only Sen. Bryan Hughes of Mineola in the ideological spectrum. The rankings, developed by political scientist Mark Jones using hundreds of floor votes, placed Middleton well to the right of nearly every other Republican senator, including some long considered part of the “conservative core.”
The report further divided the Senate’s 20 Republican members into ideological groupings.
Middleton is in a tier of his own—second only to Hughes—and is more conservative than most of his colleagues, including Sens. Brandon Creighton (Conroe), Kevin Sparks (Midland), and Bob Hall (Edgewood).
Even “hardliners” like Sen. Angela Paxton (McKinney) and Sen. Charles Schwertner (Georgetown) scored closer to the GOP median than to Middleton’s position.
Middleton’s rising profile is due in part to his unapologetic stance on issues like illegal immigration and school choice.
A key sponsor of legislation targeting DEI policies in public universities and a vocal advocate of Operation Lone Star, Middleton has made border security and law enforcement central to his political identity.
Some conservative insiders are increasingly considering Middleton as a potential successor to the Attorney General role.
The 2025 Senate rankings also underscore how distinct Middleton’s political positioning has become more conservative than roughly 90% of the entire Senate.
Throughout the recent session, Middleton often led the charge from the right on key votes related to crime and fiscal policy.
Sen. Robert Nichols — widely considered a RINO — ranked as the most liberal Republican, closer to Democrats than to conservatives like Middleton.
The ideological gap between Middleton and most of the chamber highlights his potential appeal to Texas’s increasingly right-leaning Republican primary voters.
In the wake of the Trump administration’s renewed crackdown on illegal immigration, and after Texas lawmakers quietly defunded new border wall construction in the latest $337 billion budget, as previously reported by The Dallas Express, candidates with hardline records like Middleton could gain momentum heading into the 2026 election cycle.
As the state pivots to rely more heavily on federal leadership at the border, Middleton’s unwavering stance on immigration enforcement may prove to be a key political asset.