Incumbent Republican congressman Jack Fields of Texas' 8th congressional district decided to retire. Brady decided to run and ranked second in the Republican primary with 22% of the vote in a six candidate field. But the candidate who ranked first, Dr. Gene Fontenot, received just 36% of the vote, short of the 50% threshold. In the run-off election, Brady defeated him 53%–47%. However, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in "Bush v. Vera" that three congressional districts in Texas were unconstitutional. After holding hearings, the court concluded that there was no longer time to hold primaries and instead forced all candidates (Democrats and Republicans) be listed together on the November general election ballot in a jungle primary. If no candidate reached 50%, a special runoff would be held on December 10 between the two highest ranking candidates regardless of political party. In the November election, Brady ranked first with 41% of the vote. In the December run-off election, he defeated Fontenot again 59%–41%.