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Texas's 1st congressional district

Texas's 1st congressional district
Texas' 1st congressional district
Representative	Nathaniel Moran R–Whitehouse
Distribution	56.8% urban[1] 43.4% rural
Population (2022)	775,992[2]
Median household income	$60,999[2]
Ethnicity	60.0% White 17.5% Black 17.0% Hispanic 3.7% Two or more races 1.2% Asian 0.7% other
Cook PVI	R+26[3]

Texas' 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives serves the northeastern portion of the state of Texas. As of 2022, the 1st district contained 775,992 people. It consists largely of three small East Texas metropolitan areas—Texarkana, Texas, Longview–Marshall, and Tyler. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of R+26, it is the most Republican district in Texas.^[3] It has been represented by Republican Nathaniel Moran since 2023.

The 1st 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, but 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 4th district. Lufkin, Tyler and Longview were added in its place. In the 2021 redistricting, Lufkin was dropped from the district and Texarkana was added back into it.

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. The 2003 redistricting made the district more urban and Republican, especially with the addition of the Republican strongholds of Tyler and Longview. Sandlin was easily 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 district is, Gohmert was reelected seven times with no less than 68 percent of the vote. The Democrats chose to not put up a candidate in 2008 and 2012. In 2022, Moran was elected to succeed Gohmert, with nearly 80% of the vote, becoming only the second Republican to represent the district since Reconstruction.

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

2012 redistricting[edit]

The 2012 redistricting process changed the district's northern section. All of Marion County, Cass County, and most of Upshur County were removed from the district. To compensate, the eastern half of Wood County was added.^[4] Prior to this, the district included a population of 651,619 in the 2000 census. Additionally, the population broke down accordingly:

• 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%

Recent election results from statewide races[edit]

Recent election results[edit]

Election results from recent races:

U.S. Representative[edit]

2004 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Louie Gohmert	157,068	61.5	17.9
	Democratic	Max Sandlin (incumbent)	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 (incumbent)	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 (incumbent)	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 (incumbent)	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 (incumbent)	178,322	71.4	18.3
	Democratic	Shirley J. McKellar	67,222	26.9
	Libertarian	Clark Patterson	4,114	1.6	8.7
Majority			111,100	44.5
Turnout			249,658		73.1
	Republican hold		Swing

2014 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Louie Gohmert (incumbent)	115,084	77.5	6.1
	Democratic	Shirley J. McKellar	33,476	22.5	4.4
Majority			81,608	55
Turnout			148,560		40.5
	Republican hold		Swing

2016 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Louie Gohmert (incumbent)	192,434	73.9	3.6
	Democratic	Shirley J. McKellar	62,847	24.1	1.6
	Libertarian	Phil Gray	5,062	1.9
Majority			129,587	49,8
Turnout			260,343		75.2
	Republican hold		Swing

2018 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Louie Gohmert (incumbent)	168,165	72.26	1.6
	Democratic	Shirley J. McKellar	61,263	26.32	2.2
	Libertarian	Jeff Callaway	3,292	0.5
	Republican hold		Swing

2020 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Louie Gohmert (incumbent)	218,385	72.61	0.4
	Democratic	Hank Gilbert	82,359	27.39	1.1
	Republican hold		Swing

2022 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Nathaniel Moran	183,224	78.08	5.4
	Democratic	Jrmar Jefferson	51,438	21.92	5.4
	Republican hold		Swing

List of members representing the district[edit]

Representative	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history[5]	Counties represented[6]
District established December 29, 1845
Vacant		December 29, 1845 – March 30, 1846	29th		1845–1851 Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Fannin, Nacogdoches, Rusk, Harrison, Shelby, Houston, San Augustine, Liberty, Jasper, Jefferson, Fannin[7]
David S. Kaufman (Sabine)	Democratic	March 30, 1846 – January 31, 1851	29th 30th 31st	Elected in 1846. Re-elected November 2, 1846. Re-elected late August 6, 1849.[5] Died.
Vacant		January 31, 1851 – March 4, 1851	31st
Richardson A. Scurry (Clarksville)	Democratic	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	32nd	Re-elected late August 4, 1851.[5]	1851–1861 Cooke, Fannin, Grayson, Fannin, Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Denton, Collin, Hunt, Hopkins, Titus, Cass, Dallas, Kaufman, Van Zandt, Wood, Upshur, Harrison, Henderson, Smith, Rusk, Panola, Anderson, Cherokee, Nacogdoches, Shelby, Houston, Angelina, San Augustine, Sabine, Trinity, Polk, Tyler, Jasper, Newton, Liberty, Jefferson[8]
George W. Smyth (Jasper)	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd	Elected late August 1, 1853.[5] Retired.
Lemuel D. Evans (Marshall)	Know Nothing	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	34th	Re-elected late August 6, 1855.[5] [data missing]
John H. Reagan (Palestine)	Democratic	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1861	35th 36th	Elected late August 3, 1857.[5] Re-elected late August 1, 1859.[5] Left Congress for state's secession.
District inactive		March 3, 1861 – March 30, 1870	37th 38th 39th 40th 41st	Civil War and Reconstruction
George W. Whitmore (Tyler)	Republican	March 30, 1870 – March 3, 1871	41st	Elected to finish vacant term. Lost re-election.	1870–1873 Wood, Harrison, Van Zandt, Smith, Rusk, Panola, Henderson, Anderson, Cherokee, Nacogdoches, Shelby, Houston, Angelina, San Augustine, Sabine, Trinity, Polk, Tyler, Jasper, Newton, Liberty, Hardin, Orange, Chambers, Jefferson[9]
William S. Herndon (Tyler)	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875	42nd 43rd	Elected late October 6, 1871.[5] Re-elected in 1872.[5] [data missing]
					1873–1875 Smith, Rusk, Panola, Henderson, Anderson, Cherokee, Nacogdoches, Shelby, Houston, Angelina, San Augustine, Sabine, Trinity, Polk, Tyler, Jasper, Newton, Liberty, Hardin, Orange, Chambers, Jefferson[9]
John H. Reagan (Palestine)	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883	44th 45th 46th 47th	Elected in 1874. Re-elected in 1876. Re-elected in 1878. Re-elected in 1880. Redistricted to the 2nd district.	1875–1883 Wood, Harrison, Van Zandt, Smith, Rusk, Panola, Henderson, Anderson, Cherokee, Nacogdoches, Shelby, Houston, Angelina, San Augustine, Sabine, Trinity, Polk, Tyler, Jasper[10][11]
Charles Stewart (Houston)	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1893	48th 49th 50th 51st 52nd	Elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Re-elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888. Re-elected in 1890. [data missing]	1883–1893 Angelina, Trinity, Madison, Brazos, Grimes, Waller, Montgomery, Harris, Polk, San Jacinto, Liberty, Chambers, Jefferson, Orange, Tyler, Jasper, Newton[12]
Joseph C. Hutcheson (Houston)	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897	53rd 54th	Elected in 1892. Re-elected in 1894. [data missing]	1893–1897 Freestone, Leon, Trinity, Madison, Walker, Grimes, Montgomery, Waller, Harris, Chambers[13]
Thomas H. Ball (Huntsville)	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1903	55th 56th 57th	Elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. [data missing]	1897–1903 Freestone, Leon, Trinity, Madison, Walker, Grimes, Montgomery, Waller, Harris, Chambers[14]
Morris Sheppard (Texarkana)	Democratic	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1913	58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd	Elected in 1902. Re-elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1910. Redistricted from the 4th district.	1903–1913 Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion[15][16]
Horace W. Vaughan (Texarkana)	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915	63rd	Elected in 1912. [data missing]	1913–1915 Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion[16]
Eugene Black (Clarksville)	Democratic	March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1929	64th 65th 66th 67th 68th 69th 70th	Elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Re-elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920. Re-elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. [data missing]	1915–1933 Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion[16][17]
Wright Patman (Texarkana)	Democratic	March 4, 1929 – March 7, 1976	71st 72nd 73rd 74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th	Elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930. Re-elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Re-elected in 1946. Re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Died.	1933–1959 Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison[17][18]
					1959–1967 Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Franklin, Titus, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison[19]
					1967–1969 Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Wood, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Cherokee, Shelby
					1969–1973 Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Wood, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Cherokee, Upshur, Shelby[20]
					1973–1975 Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Wood, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Cherokee, Upshur, Shelby, Fannin, Henderson, San Augustine[21]
					1975–1977 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[22]
Vacant		March 7, 1976 – June 19, 1976	94th
Sam B. Hall (Marshall)	Democratic	June 19, 1976 – May 27, 1985	94th 95th 96th 97th 98th 99th	Elected to finish Patman's term. Re-elected in 1978. Resigned to become U.S. District Judge.
					1977–1983 [data missing][23]
					1983–1993 Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Wood, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Cherokee, Upshur, Shelby, Henderson, San Augustine, northern Hunt[24]
Vacant		May 27, 1985 – August 3, 1985	99th
Jim Chapman (Sulphur Springs)	Democratic	August 3, 1985 – January 3, 1997	99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th	Elected to finish Hall's term. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
					1993–1997 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[25]
Max Sandlin (Marshall)	Democratic	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2005	105th 106th 107th 108th	Elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Lost re-election.	1997–2003 [data missing][26]
					2003–2005 Lamar, Red River, Bowie, Delta, Hopkins, Wood, Franklin, Titus, Camp, Morris, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Panola, Rusk, Upshur, Shelby, most of Hunt, northern Nacogdoches[27]
Louie Gohmert (Tyler)	Republican	January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2023	109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th 117th	Elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Retired to run for Attorney General of Texas.	2005–2013 Upshur, Marion, Harrison, Gregg, Smith, Rusk, Panola, Nacogdoches, Shelby, San Augustine, Sabine, Angelina, southeastern Cass[28]
					2013–2023 Angelina, Gregg, Harrison, Nacogdoches, Panola, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur (part), Wood (part)[29]
Nathaniel Moran (Whitehouse)	Republican	January 3, 2023 – present	118th	Elected in 2022.	2023–present Bowie (part), Camp, Cass, Franklin, Gregg, Harrison, Marion, Morris, Panola, Red River (part), Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Titus, Upshur (part)[30]

See also[edit]

• List of United States congressional districts

References[edit]

• 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

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