Texas's_17th_congressional_district
Texas's 17th congressional district
U.S. House district for Texas
Texas's 17th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives includes a strip of Central Texas and Deep East Texas stretching from Nacogdoches to Waco and Round Rock, including former President George W. Bush's McLennan County ranch.[5][6] The district is currently represented by Republican Pete Sessions.
| Texas's 17th congressional district | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Texas's 17th congressional district – since January 3, 2023. | |||
| Representative |
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| Distribution |
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| Population (2022) | 781,996[2] | ||
| Median household income | $63,266[3] | ||
| Ethnicity |
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| Cook PVI | R+14[4] | ||
From 2005 to 2013, it was an oblong district stretching from south of Tarrant County to Grimes County in the southeast. The 2012 redistricting made its area more square, removing the northern and southeastern portions, adding areas southwest into the northern Austin suburbs and east into Freestone and Leon counties. The district included two major universities, Texas A&M University in College Station and Baylor University in Waco.
Before 2005, the district stretched from the Abilene area to the outer western fringes of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
After the 2003 Texas redistricting, engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, TX-17 was (along with MS-4) the most heavily Republican district in the nation to be represented by a Democrat, according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, which rated it R+20.[7] The district was drawn to make it Republican-dominated and unseat its longtime incumbent, conservative Democrat Chet Edwards. While several of his colleagues were defeated by Republicans in 2004, Edwards held on to the seat in the 2004, 2006 and 2008 elections.
But in the 2010 Congressional elections, the district elected Republican Bill Flores over Edwards by a margin of 61.8% to 36.6%.[8] Flores was the first Republican to be elected to represent the district since its creation in 1919. Flores retired after five terms and former Texas 32nd district Congressman Pete Sessions, a Waco native, was elected in 2020.
After passage of civil rights legislation and other changes, through the late 20th and early 21st centuries, white conservatives began to shift into the Republican Party in Texas. They first supported presidential candidates, and gradually more Republicans for local, state and national office, resulting in the 2010 switch in party representation.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Pete Sessions (incumbent) | 144,408 | 66.48 | +10.5 | |
| Democratic | Mary Jo Woods | 72,801 | 33.52 | -7.4 | |
| Total votes | 217,209 | 100.0 | |||
| Republican hold | Swing | +10.5 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Pete Sessions | 171,390 | 55.9 | -0.9 | |
| Democratic | Rick Kennedy | 125,565 | 40.92 | -0.4 | |
| Libertarian | Ted Brown | 9,918 | 3.2 | +1.3 | |
| Majority | 45,825 | 14.9 | |||
| Turnout | 306,873 | ||||
| Republican hold | Swing | -0.9 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bill Flores (incumbent) | 134,841 | 56.8 | -4.01 | |
| Democratic | Rick Kennedy | 98,070 | 41.3 | +6.06 | |
| Libertarian | Clark Patterson | 4,440 | 1.9 | -2.05 | |
| Majority | 36,771 | 15.5 | |||
| Turnout | 237,351 | ||||
| Republican hold | Swing | -4.01 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bill Flores (incumbent) | 149,417 | 60.81 | -3.77 | |
| Democratic | William Matta | 86,603 | 35.24 | +2.84 | |
| Libertarian | Clark Patterson | 9,708 | 3.95 | +0.93 | |
| Majority | 53,106 | 21.6 | |||
| Turnout | 245,728 | ||||
| Republican hold | Swing | -3.77 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bill Flores (incumbent) | 85,807 | 64.58 | -15.35 | |
| Democratic | Nick Haynes | 43,049 | 32.4 | ||
| Libertarian | Shawn Michael Hamilton | 4,009 | 3.02 | -17.05 | |
| Majority | 38,749 | 29.16 | |||
| Turnout | 132,865 | ||||
| Republican hold | Swing | -15.35 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bill Flores (incumbent) | 143,284[9] | 79.93 | +34.8 | |
| Libertarian | Ben Easton | 35,978 | 20.07 | 119 | |
| Majority | 107,306 | ||||
| Turnout | 179,262 | 4.23 | |||
| Republican hold | Swing | +18.14 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bill Flores | 106,275 | 61.79 | +16.28 | |
| Democratic | Chet Edwards (incumbent) | 62,926 | 36.59 | -16.39 | |
| Libertarian | Richard Kelly | 2,787 | 1.62 | +0.11 | |
| Majority | 43,349 | 25.2 | +17.73 | ||
| Turnout | 171,988 | ||||
| Republican gain from Democratic | Swing | +16.34 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Chet Edwards (incumbent) | 134,592 | 52.98 | -5.14 | |
| Republican | Rob Curnock | 115,581 | 45.51 | +5.21 | |
| Libertarian | Gardner C. Osbourne | 3,849 | 1.51 | -0.07 | |
| Majority | 19,011 | 7.47 | -10.35 | ||
| Turnout | 254,022 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | -5.18 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Chet Edwards (incumbent) | 92,478 | 58.12 | +6.92 | |
| Republican | Van Taylor | 64,142 | 40.30 | -7.11 | |
| Libertarian | Guillermo Acosta | 2,504 | 1.58 | +0.19 | |
| Majority | 28,336 | 17.82 | +14.03 | ||
| Turnout | 159,124 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | +7.02 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Chet Edwards | 125,309 | 51.20 | -0.17 | |
| Republican | Arlene Wohlgemuth | 116,049 | 47.41 | +0.03 | |
| Libertarian | Clyde Garland | 3,390 | 1.39 | +0.14 | |
| Majority | 9,260 | 3.79 | -0.19 | ||
| Turnout | 244,748 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | -0.1 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Charlie Stenholm (incumbent) | 84,136 | 51.37 | ||
| Republican | Rob Beckham | 77,622 | 47.38 | ||
| Libertarian | Fred Jones | 2,046 | 1.25 | ||
| Majority | 6,514 | 3.98 | |||
| Turnout | 163,804 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
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- Geography. "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (state-based)". www.census.gov.
- "My Congressional District". www.census.gov.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP). "My Congressional District". www.census.gov.
- "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- "Pelosi continues to tout Texas Rep. Chet Edwards for VP". Texas on the Potomac (blog). Houston Chronicle. August 3, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
- Vlahos, Kelley (March 7, 2006). "Texas Rep. Edwards Beats Odds, but Faces Iraq War Vet in Midterm". Fox News. Retrieved March 25, 2007.
- Texas 17th District Profile Congressional Quarterly. May 14, 2010.
- 2010 Texas Election Results New York Times. November 13, 2010.
Sources
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present