Texas GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw parachute-jumps, assembles a team in a long, action hero-themed ad

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Dan Crenshaw for Texas)

"Who says campaign ads have to suck?" Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) asked, introducing a new group political ad he modestly describes as "Mission Impossible meets the Avengers." The ad definitely has the vibe of an action-hero movie trailer, only longer — it clocks in at nearly 4 minutes. The point seems to be to boost the profile of five Republicans running for Congress, three of them military veterans like Crenshaw.

The expensive-looking ad has CGI explosions, Crenshaw jumping out of a plane, jocular banter, a teased martial arts fight between the two female candidates, and, for some reasons, a British woman telling a U.S. congressman what mission he is supposed to accomplish. If you want to know what these six candidates hope to do for you in Congress, you'll have to search out their websites.

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Texas Democrats picked up a number of seats in the 2018 midterms, and the Republican National Committee just wired Texas Republicans $1.3 million for this election. "Fantastic ad by Dan Crenshaw with compelling message: in 2020, Republicans worry they may lose Texas," anti-Trump conservative David Frum tweeted.

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Crenshaw's opponent, Sima Ladjevardian, is not a military veteran, but at least two-high profile Democratic candidates running for office are Air Force veterans — as they also note in their ads, more appropriately. One of them, MJ Hegar, is running about 7 points behind Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in recent polls.

And Air Force veteran Gina Ortiz Jones is running against one of Crenshaw's "avengers" — Navy vet Tony Gonzales, the "cyber warfare expert" whose talents Crenshaw said were put to better use running for Congress — for the open seat being vacated by Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas). The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race "lean Democratic." Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.