 After his military service, Tinderholt was a professor of Spanish at Columbia College in Fort Worth.Tinderholt won the 2014 Republican nomination over Diane Patrick, 7,489 votes (55.44 percent) to 6,018 (44.55 percent).In the November 4 general election, Tinderholt, with 23,034 votes (56.64 percent), defeated Democrat Cole Ballweg and Libertarian Robert Harris, who received 16,461 (40.47 percent) and 1,172 (2.88 percent), respectively.