Neoconservative Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) is facing a primary challenger after drawing the wrath of small government conservatives who accused him of supporting pay raises for members of Congress and future funding for Ukraine as part of a failed bipartisan spending bill.
Valentina Gomez, a former collegiate swimmer and candidate for Missouri secretary of state, announced on X that she would be challenging Crenshaw in the 2026 Texas Republican primary. In a feisty and sometimes vulgar video, Gomez referred to the three-term lawmaker as a “RINO and a dinosaur” who needs to be swept away by a more vocal Trump supporter. “I’m running for Congress in Texas, and I’m taking down a RINO and a dinosaur once and for all because Congress is full of crooks like Speaker Johnson, who is just a little man with no balls,” she said. Dan Crenshaw “is only good at betraying his fellow Navy SEALS,” she added.
Although he has mostly voted with President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda during his six years in office, Crenshaw has been singled out by MAGA influencers online for laying some of the blame on the president-elect for the January 6th, 2021, breach at the Capitol. His continued support for funding the Ukraine war has been a sore spot for America First devotees who want the spigot shut off by Trump, an issue that played a role in his especially close primary election this year. Jameson Ellis, a conservative activist who challenged Crenshaw the previous cycle, gave him a close race while raising less than $30,000. Crenshaw spent more than $2.7 million to keep his seat.
Valentina Gomez, who got online famous for viral videos during her Missouri Secretary of State campaign, says she’s moving to Texas to challenge Crenshaw. (She got 8% in the GOP primary this year) https://t.co/CNwR96vpy2
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) December 19, 2024
Enter Valentino, a standout former swimmer for Tulane University who earned an online following for several viral and occasionally foul-mouthed videos related to transgender athletes like fellow collegiate swimmer Lia Thomas. Despite the notoriety, she earned just 8% in the GOP primary. “Here’s the only reason you should vote for me: because I don’t give a f*** about what all those bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. think about me,” she said in the announcement. “I’m coming to Texas to speak the truth, cook the crooks, and save the children. Buckle up, Texas, because this ain’t my first rodeo.”
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The poor electoral showing isn’t stopping Gomez from moving to Texas and pursuing a potentially upsetting campaign against Crenshaw, who isn’t afraid of being a thorn in the side of MAGA members. After conservative journalist Nick Sortor reported that Crenshaw was allegedly supporting a congressional pay raise as part of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) bill to prevent a government shutdown, the Texas lawmaker ripped into him. “You’re a f****** lying piece of s***,” Crenshaw wrote in a deeply personal reply on X. “But hey, whatever gets you pathetic bottom feeders your click bait.”
Yeah or maybe you’re a fucking lying piece of shit because I’m not even on the YES list for the whip team. Never have been. But hey, whatever gets you pathetic bottom feeders your click bait. Fucking incels. https://t.co/nc0i3NwBub
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) December 19, 2024
Crenshaw continued duking it out with conservative influencers in the post’s comment section. After a prominent MAGA account accused him of being an “America-last, Ukraine-first war pig,” Crenshaw went ballistic. “Sorry I was guy fighting the wars that little bitches like you would never dare to,” the former Navy SEAL fired back. “One of us has actually served this country and continues to, while losers like you make money being trolls on social media.”
Anonymous coward like “catturd” talking shit without any evidence. I’m used to it. Sorry I was guy fighting the wars that little bitches like you would never dare to. One of us has actually served this country and continues to, while losers like you make money being trolls on…
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) December 19, 2024
