Tom Sell

According to his campaign website, Sell is a fifth-generation West Texan; his family moved to Lubbock as sharecroppers in 1906, according to The Texas Tribune.[3][4] USA Rice Daily reports he was born and raised in the 19th District, where he met his wife, Kyla.[5] He earned a bachelor's degree and a J.D. from Texas Tech University; his campaign website says the bachelor's was in agribusiness.[1][3]

Sell worked in the office of former U.S. Rep. Larry Combest (R-Texas) and served as deputy staff director for the House Committee on Agriculture, which Combest chaired, from 1999 to early 2003, according to The Texas Tribune.[1][4] According to his campaign website, he helped advance the Crop Insurance Reform Act of 2000 and the 2002 Farm Bill while working for Combest.[3] After leaving Capitol Hill he returned to Lubbock and founded the firm now called Combest, Sell & Associates with Combest, and he has run it for about 21 years, according to USA Rice Daily.[1][3][4][5] In the Republican primary, opponent Jason Corley called him a "career lobbyist."[4]

Sell ran in the 2026 Republican primary for the open 19th District seat, led the seven-candidate March 3 field with 40.4%, and defeated Abraham Enriquez in the May 26 runoff, 64.3% to 35.7%.[1][6] He lives in Lubbock with his wife, Kyla; the couple raised four children, and their campaign site says they are active in their church and community and mentor students at Texas Tech's Davis College of Agriculture.[3][4][5] The Tribune reports he has coached Little League.[4] He won the November 3, 2026 general election with 69.5% of the vote to Kyle Rable's 30.5%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[2]