Keith Self

Keith Alan Self is a Republican politician and military veteran who has served as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 3rd congressional district since January 2023. Born in Philadelphia and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Self graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1975 with a degree in engineering. He later earned a Master of Arts in international relations from the University of Southern California in 1981. Self's 25-year career in the U.S. Army included service as a Special Forces and Army Ranger officer, with deployments to Grenada, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, eventually retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Following his military service, Self entered local government and served as the County Judge for Collin County, Texas, from 2007 to 2018. During his three terms in this role, he was recognized for a fiscally conservative approach, which included implementing a 25% reduction in property taxes and reforming the county's pension system. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2022, succeeding Van Taylor, and is a member of the House Freedom Caucus.

Keith Self maintains a consistently conservative platform with a heavy emphasis on border security, fiscal restraint, and constitutional originalism. He advocates for the completion of a southern border wall and the strict enforcement of immigration laws, frequently stating that border security should be a prerequisite for other federal funding. Fiscally, he focuses on reducing the national debt and has expressed opposition to many federal subsidies, including COVID-era Affordable Care Act tax credits, which he argues should expire to allow for a broader market-based healthcare reform. He supports expanding domestic energy production and has called for defunding various environmental regulations and electric vehicle mandates. On foreign policy, Self serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and generally supports aid to allies like Israel and Ukraine, though he has voted against aid packages that he believes lack sufficient oversight or are tied to unrelated domestic spending. He is an original co-sponsor of legislation intended to repeal the 17th Amendment, aiming to return the selection of U.S. Senators to state legislatures. Additionally, he is a life member of the NRA, identifies as pro-life, and has introduced legislation to ensure foreign or religious laws do not supersede the U.S. Constitution.