Texas's 1st congressional district

Texas's 1st congressional district
Texas's 1st congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative		Louie Gohmert (R–Tyler)
Population (2000)	651,619
Median income	$33,461
Ethnicity	74.4% White, 18.4% Black, 0.4% Asian, 9.3% Hispanic, 0.5% Native American, 0.2% other
Cook PVI	R+24 (2012)

Texas's First congressional district in the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves the northeastern portion of the state of Texas. As of the 2000 Census, the First District represents 651,619 people. It consists largely of three small East Texas metropolitan areas—Lufkin-Nacogdoches, in the south, Longview-Marshall, and Tyler.

The First District once encompassed large parts of North Texas and Central Texas, but as the population of Texas grew, the district got smaller until it only encompassed about half of Northeast Texas.

For most of its history, the district was based in Texarkana. However, in a controversial 2003 redistricting orchestrated by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Texarkana was drawn out of the district and moved to the neighboring Fourth congressional district. Lufkin, Tyler and Longview were added in its place.

The district was predominantly rural for much of its history, and thus was far friendlier to electing Democrats to Congress even as most of Texas swung toward the Republicans. The district's four-term Democratic incumbent, Max Sandlin, was a particularly severe critic of the DeLay-led redistricting effort, claiming that lumping rural areas with urban ones stifled the voice of rural voters. Indeed, the 2003 redistricting made the district more urban and Republican, especially with the addition of the Republican strongholds of Tyler and Longview. Sandlin was heavily defeated in November 2004 by Republican Louie Gohmert, a longtime judge in the Tyler area. Gohmert is the first Republican to represent the district since Reconstruction. Proving just how Republican the reconfigured 1st was, Gohmert has been reelected five times with virtually no opposition.

The district's best-known congressman, Wright Patman, represented the district for 47 years — the second-longest tenure of anyone in Congress from Texas. He was an early supporter of the New Deal, and later chaired the House Banking Committee for 12 years.

2012 redistricting

The 2012 redistricting process changed the district's northern section. All of Marion County, Cass County, and the majority of Upshur County were removed from the district. To compensate this loss, the eastern half of Wood County was added.

Election results

Election results from recent races

U.S. Representative

2004 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Louie Gohmert	157,068	61.5	17.9
	Democratic	Max Sandlin	96,281	37.7	18.7
	Libertarian	Dean Tucker	2,158	0.8
Majority			60,787	23.8
Turnout			255,507
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

2006 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Louie Gohmert	104,099	68	6.5
	Democratic	Roger L. Owen	46,303	30.2	7.5
	Libertarian	Donald Perkison	2,668	1.7	0.9
Majority			57,796	37.8
Turnout			153,070		40.1
	Republican hold		Swing

2008 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Louie Gohmert	189,012	87.6	19.6
	Independent	Roger L. Owen	26,814	12.4
Majority			162,198	75.2
Turnout			215,826		41.0
	Republican hold		Swing

2010 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Louie Gohmert	129,398	89.7	2.1
	Libertarian	Charles F. Parkes, III	14,811	10.3
Majority			114,587	79.6
Turnout			144,209		33.2
	Republican hold		Swing

2012 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Louie Gohmert	178,322	71.4	18.3
	Democratic	Shirley J. McKellar	67,222	26.9	26.9
	Libertarian	Clark Patterson	4,114	1.6%	8.7
Majority			111,100	44.5
Turnout			249,658		73.1
	Republican hold		Swing

President

Year	Winner	%	Margin (%)
2000	George W. Bush	68	32
2004	George W. Bush	69	30
2008	John McCain	69	30
2012	Mitt Romney	72	44

Demographics

• Population: 651,619 (2000 Census)
• Under 18: 26.2%
• Over 65: 14.1%
• Married 58.7%
• Non-Hispanic White: 71%
• Black: 18%
• Hispanic: 9%
• Asian:1%
• Foreign born: 5.3%
• Language other than English: 9.8%
• Median household income: $33,461
• Owner occupied housing: 71.9%
• Income above $200K: 1.4%

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years	Electoral history	Counties represented
District created		December 29, 1845
Vacant		December 29, 1845 – March 30, 1846		[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
David S. Kaufman	Democratic	March 30, 1846 – January 31, 1851	First elected in 1846 Died	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Vacant		January 31, 1851 – March 4, 1851		[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Richardson A. Scurry	Democratic	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	Elected in 1850 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
George W. Smyth	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	Elected in 1852 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Lemuel D. Evans	American (Know-Nothing)	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	Elected in 1854 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
100px John H. Reagan	Democratic	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1861	First elected in 1856 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
American Civil War/Reconstruction
George W. Whitmore	Republican	March 30, 1870 – March 3, 1871	Elected in 1870 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
William S. Herndon	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875	First elected in 1870 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
100px John H. Reagan	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883	Redistricted to the 2nd district [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
100px Charles Stewart	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1893	First elected in 1882 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
100px Joseph C. Hutcheson	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897	First elected in 1892 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
100px Thomas H. Ball	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1903	First elected in 1896 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
100px Morris Sheppard	Democratic	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1913	Redistricted from the 4th district [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
100px Horace W. Vaughan	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915	Elected in 1912 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
100px Eugene Black	Democratic	March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1929	First elected in 1914 [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Wright Patman	Democratic	March 4, 1929 – January 3, 1967	First elected in 1928 Died	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
		January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1967		Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Franklin, Titus, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison
		January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1969		Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Wood, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Cherokee, Shelby
		January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1973		Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Wood, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Cherokee, Upshur, Shelby
		January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975		Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Wood, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Cherokee, Upshur, Shelby, Fannin, Henderson, San Augustine
		January 3, 1975 – March 7, 1976		Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Wood, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Cherokee, Upshur, Shelby, Fannin, Henderson, San Augustine, southeastern Hunt, eastern Rains
Vacant		March 7, 1976 – June 19, 1976
100px Sam B. Hall	Democratic	June 19, 1976 – January 3, 1983	First elected to finish Patman's term Resigned to become U.S. District Judge
		January 3, 1983 – May 27, 1985		Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Wood, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Cherokee, Upshur, Shelby, Henderson, San Augustine, northern Hunt
Vacant		May 27, 1985 – August 3, 1985
100px Jim Chapman	Democratic	August 3, 1985 – January 3, 1993	First elected to finish Hall's term Re-elected in 1986 Re-elected in 1988 Re-elected in 1990
		January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1997	Re-elected in 1992 Re-elected in 1994 Retired to run for U.S. Senate	Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Wood, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Upshur, Shelby, eastern Hunt, southeastern Gregg, parts of Nacogdoches
100px Max Sandlin	Democratic	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2003	First elected in 1996 Re-elected in 1998 Re-elected in 2000
		January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005	Re-elected in 2002 Lost re-election	Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Wood, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Upshur, Shelby, most of Hunt, northern Nacogdoches
100px Louie Gohmert	Republican	January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2013	First elected in 2004 Re-elected in 2006 Re-elected in 2008 Re-elected in 2010	Upshur, Marion, Harrison, Gregg, Smith, Rusk, Panola, Nacogdoches, Shelby, San Augustine, Sabine, Angelina, southeastern Cass
		January 3, 2013 – Present	Re-elected in 2012 Re-elected in 2014	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]

Historical district boundaries

2007 - 2013

See also

• List of United States congressional districts

References

• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present