Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) has largely fallen off the map since launching an underdog primary challenge to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) late last year.

According to The Associated Press, Stockman has missed 17 House votes in a row since Jan. 9, an unusual development for the lawmaker, who had missed only about a dozen major votes last year.

Notably, he skipped out on a vote on the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill, which he had railed against and promised to oppose on Twitter.

{mosads}Stockman has been largely absent from the campaign trail, as well, since launching his bid on Dec. 9. He’s made one major public appearance back home since then, at a small gathering of Tea Party activists in Dallas on Jan. 14 — and that was after skipping a previously scheduled event.

Stockman’s absence from public life is head-scratching this close to the March 4 Republican primary, where he has little name recognition statewide and even less cash.

He entered what many expected to be an expensive contest with $163,000 in debt with only $32,000 cash on hand, up against Cornyn’s $7 million war chest.