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In 2006, Taylor unsuccessfully challenged Democrat Thomas Chester "Chet" Edwards, a [[Texas A&M University]] graduate, for Texas' 17th congressional district seat. Edwards was subsequently unseated in 2010 by the Republican [[Bill Flores]]. The seat is how held by Republican [[Pete Sessions]], son of the former [[FBI]] Director [[William Sessions]].

In 2006, Taylor unsuccessfully challenged Democrat Thomas Chester "Chet" Edwards, a [[Texas A&M University]] graduate, for Texas' 17th congressional district seat. Edwards was subsequently unseated in 2010 by the Republican [[Bill Flores]]. The seat is how held by Republican [[Pete Sessions]], son of the former [[FBI]] Director [[William Sessions]].

[[Angela Paxton]], wife and political advisor of Texas Attorney General [[Ken Paxton]], is the Republican state senator for District 8. She succeeded Taylor in January 2019. She defeated the Democrat Mark Phariss in the same election in which Taylor defeated Burch and Ken Paxton won a second term as attorney general.

[[Angela Paxton]], wife and political advisor of Texas Attorney General [[Ken Paxton]], is the Republican state senator for State Senate District 8. She succeeded Taylor in January 2019. She defeated the Democrat Mark Phariss in the same election in which Taylor defeated Burch and Ken Paxton won a second term as attorney general.

In July 2020, Taylor voted to remove Civil War-era statues.<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/07/23/the-list-72-republicans-vote-with-democrats-to-remove-civil-war-era-memorabilia-from-u-s-capitol/ The List: 72 Republicans Vote with Democrats to Remove Civil War-Era Memorabilia from U.S. Capitol]</ref>

In July 2020, Taylor voted to remove Civil War-era statues.<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/07/23/the-list-72-republicans-vote-with-democrats-to-remove-civil-war-era-memorabilia-from-u-s-capitol/ The List: 72 Republicans Vote with Democrats to Remove Civil War-Era Memorabilia from U.S. Capitol]</ref>

He was one of thirty-five Republicans to vote for the Partisan Hack resolution calling for an Investigation on Capital Hill.<ref>https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2021/roll154.xml</ref><ref>https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/05/19/35-house-republicans-vote-for-bill-to-establish-january-6-commission/</ref>.

He was one of thirty-five Republicans to vote for the Partisan Hack resolution calling for an Investigation on Capital Hill.<ref>https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2021/roll154.xml</ref><ref>https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/05/19/35-house-republicans-vote-for-bill-to-establish-january-6-commission/</ref>.

On March 2, 2022, Taylor announced that he was leaving his reelection bid though he finished first the previous day with 49 percent of the primary vote. The second-placed candidate, Keith Self, a former Collin County Judge<ref>In Texas, the County Judge more resembles the mayor of a city; only in very small counties does the officeholder actually perform judicial functions.</ref> Self, more conservative than Taylor, will hence be the Republican nominee in the November 8 general election.<ref>[https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/03/01/rep-van-taylor-fights-to-overcome-trump-snub-and-other-texas-gop-congressional-primaries-to-watch/]</ref> This turn of events can be attributed to the revelation of an extramarital affair between Taylor and “ISIS bride” Tania Joya just days before the election.<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/02/28/exclusive-isis-bride-says-texas-congressman-van-taylor-paid-her-to-keep-quiet-about-affair/]</ref>

On March 1, 2022, Taylor (as the incumbent) faced four challengers in the Republican primary election for his Congressional District 3 seat:

*Keith Self, a West Point graduate and Army veteran who upon his retirement after 25 years of service, ran for and served as Collin County Judge<ref>In Texas, the County Judge more resembles the mayor of a city; only in very small counties does the officeholder actually perform judicial functions.</ref> from 2006-2018; Self was considered to be more conservative than Taylor<ref>[https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/03/01/rep-van-taylor-fights-to-overcome-trump-snub-and-other-texas-gop-congressional-primaries-to-watch/]</ref>,

 

Taylor finished with the most votes, but only obtained 49% of the votes cast and therefore was set to face Self (the second-place finisher with 26% of votes cast) in a runoff election scheduled for May 24, 2022.<ref>In Texas, in primary elections a candidate must gain a majority of votes cast to avoid a runoff; otherwise, the top two candidates face off in a runoff election.  Runoffs are not used in the general election; only a plurality of votes is required to win.</ref>  Harp would finish third with 21% of votes cast, just over 3,600 votes behind Self, while Williams and Ivanovskis would be also-rans, garnering between them just over 2,500 votes and 4% of the total votes cast.

 

However, on the Thursday prior to the election, Harp was contacted by Tania Joya, a British native and Plano resident, asking her to confront Taylor regarding an affair the two had, hoping Harp would convince Taylor to drop out of the race and resign his Congressional seat.  Joya was already well-known in the British tabloids due to her late husband's actions: he (John Georgelas) had converted to Islam and in 2013 had taken Joya and their then three children to Northern Syria, where he (now going by the name Yahya Abu Hassan) actively fought on behalf of the terrorist group ISIS against the Americans; she had been dubbed "ISIS Bride" as a result.  (Joya, who at the time was pregnant with the couple's fourth child, and the children escaped to Turkey three weeks after their arrival; the husband was killed in 2017.)  Instead, Harp contacted a reporter who interviewed Joya for 35 minutes; the interview appeared on the right-wing website National File that Sunday afternoon, and the following day on the more noted Breitbart site.<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/02/28/exclusive-isis-bride-says-texas-congressman-van-taylor-paid-her-to-keep-quiet-about-affair/]</ref?  Taylor would suspend his campaign the day after the primary election.  (However, Taylor has not officially withdrawn from the race; only if he withdraws prior to 5PM local time on March 16 will the runoff election be cancelled, and Self declared the winner.)  Self later called Taylor's decision "appropriate" due to the high standards to which conservative candidates are held.

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