Dr. Kristin Hook is a biological scientist with a PhD in animal behavior from Cornell University and a former middle school science teacher through Teach for America. She was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas by a single mother who did not attend college, making her the first in her family to earn a PhD. Hook has extensive experience in federal government, having served as a policy fellow in Senator Elizabeth Warren's office, a biologist at the National Institutes of Health, and a biologist at the U.S. Government Accountability Office. She moved back to Texas in 2022 and is now based in San Marcos. Hook was the Democratic nominee for this district in 2024, losing to incumbent Chip Roy by 25 percentage points with 36% of the vote. In March 2026, she won the Democratic primary with 60% of the vote in a three-way race against Regina Vanburg and Gary Taylor.
Dr. Kristin Hook was born in Corpus Christi, Texas to a single mother who did not attend college, making Hook the first in her family to earn a PhD. She grew up in a working-class, mixed-race family in South Texas and the Hill Country. She earned two bachelor's degrees from the University of Texas at Austin (one in humanities honors, one in biology) in 2007 with help from Pell grants and a National Science Foundation award. She earned her PhD in animal behavior (specialized in reproductive biology) from Cornell University in 2016. After completing her PhD, Hook spent three years teaching middle school science in an underserved community in New York City through Teach for America. She then conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Maryland and built grassroots networks of women scientists. Hook has served in the federal government as: a policy fellow in Senator Elizabeth Warren's office (focusing on emerging technologies and policy including finance, military, and housing); a scientist at the National Institutes of Health (working on healthcare expansion); and a biologist at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (protecting taxpayer dollars and advising Congress on emerging technologies like AI). She moved back to Texas in 2022 and currently lives in San Marcos. She is 41 years old.