Ted Brown Offers Libertarian Voice in Texas Senate Race

This week, Texas voters will cast their ballots and choose the Republican and Democratic nominees for Texas Senate. As voters grow increasingly frustrated with the elephants and the donkeys, a porcupine by the name of Ted Brown is making his case for the senate.

Brown, who previously ran against Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) as “The better Ted!” in 2024, is now vying for Senator John Cornyn’s (R-TX) seat.

“I think it’s important for there to be alternative voices in politics, and we sure don’t get that from the Democrats and Republicans,” Brown argued in an exclusive interview with Texas Politics. “They’re just like two sides of the same statist coin. They just want to advance the size of government in different ways.”

“The Republicans say they’re for less government. No, they’re not,” Brown assesses. “And the Democrats say they’re for personal freedom and all that, but they’re not.”

A Gallup poll released October 2025 showed that 62% of Americans want a third party to challenge Republicans and Democrats. The same poll showed that 55% of Americans are “somewhat likely” to vote for a third-party candidate, but only 15% are “very likely” to do so.

Brown, who has “been a candidate a number of times to represent the Libertarian Party,” argues that “this country has a lot more political viewpoints it can fit” into elections.

“For example, we could easily have five or six parties, and other countries have multiple parties represented in their parliaments and in their legislative bodies,” he explained. “There could be Libertarians, Greens, Constitutionalists – various different groups or different parties that could be represented. Instead, these ‘big tent’ parties just subsume any kind of alternative to the way they do things, which is backing the big special interest groups, the big donors. That’s who pays all the bills for them, and that’s who gets their attention.”

Reflecting on his 2024 run, Brown commented that the Libertarian Party faces obstacles because it doesn’t “have a lot of ‘goodies’ to offer.”

“The Democrats and Republicans get millions upon millions of dollars in contributions,” Brown said. “In 2024, there was, like, $200 million spent by the Democrats and Republicans. That’s a phenomenal amount of money. Obviously, people don’t give that kind of money unless they have something in return when those politicians get into office.”

Because of that, Brown offers a pledge to Texans: “I’m not going to be beholden to any special interest groups or to corrupt party leaders like the other candidates are because I just don’t have any goodies to offer. I’m not going to offer government subsidies to these people.”

If elected, Brown pledges to serve one-term, noting, “I’m not going to be schmoozing with lobbyists or raising money. I’m just going to be there to defend the Constitution and personal freedom and economic freedom.”

Senator Cornyn faces a tough Republican primary race against Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX). On the Democratic side, State Rep. James Talarico (D-TX) and Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) are vying for the nomination.

“You don’t have to vote for a Democrat or Republican. You can vote for a Libertarian,” Brown argues. “People really need to stick to their guns – to their principles.”