Chris Royal

Chris Royal was born in Kokomo, Indiana. He says his family moved to Springfield, Missouri, when he was 12, where his father ran a restaurant and he worked.[1] He earned a bachelor's degree from Southwest Missouri State University in 1982, which he says was in philosophy with a minor in ancient history.[1] Royal served in the U.S. Army from 1982 to 1990, including at the Pentagon and with the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, and says he was called up for Operation Desert Storm and served at Fort McPherson, Georgia. According to his survey, he earned a J.D. from the Kansas City School of Law in 1990.[1]

Royal says he spent a year in Arkansas teaching himself C++ and writing a real estate textbook. Ballotpedia lists his career experience as teacher, lawyer, real estate textbook author, computer programmer, and restaurateur.[1] According to his survey, he moved permanently to the Rio Grande Valley in 1993, held jobs in the legal, title, and teaching fields, and retired from teaching in 2024.[1] He ran for this seat as an independent in 2022, receiving 4,079 votes (3.0%). Ballotpedia lists him as a withdrawn or disqualified independent candidate in 2024, and he became the Libertarian nominee in 2026 after the party's March 21, 2026 convention.[1][3] Royal is married with two children and attends Holy Family Catholic Church in Brownsville, according to his survey.[1] In his 2024 Candidate Connection survey, he said he was running to reduce federal spending and have existing immigration laws enforced.[1] He received 2.3% of the vote to Vicente Gonzalez's 55.6%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[2]