The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the 36
U.S. representatives from the state of
Texas—an increase of four seats in
reapportionment following the
2010 United States census. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial
presidential election and an
election for the U.S. Senate. The
primary election had been scheduled to be held on March 6, 2012, with a
runoff election on May 22; because of problems arising from redistricting, the primary was postponed to May 29, and the run-off to July 31.[1]
With 58% of voting age people turning out, all existing seats were held by their respective parties with one exception, the Democrats picking up the 23rd District. Of the four new seats, two were won by the
Republican Party for a total of 24 seats, and two were won by the
Democratic Party for a total of 12 seats.
In March 2011, The Texas Tribune conducted a poll of Texas "insiders" which found 54 per cent to believe three of the state's four new congressional districts would be drawn to favor the
Republican Party, with one district drawn to favor the
Democratic Party; while 37 per cent of those polled felt two districts would favor Republicans while two would favor Democrats.[2] In April, Republican U.S. Representative
Lamar Smith argued that the seats should be evenly split between the parties in order to reflect Texas's growing
Hispanic population and abide by the
Voting Rights Act.
Joe Barton, also a Republican U.S. Representative, disagreed, arguing that three or four of the districts should favor Republicans.[3]
Also in April, the
Mexican American Legislative Caucus filed a
lawsuit against
GovernorRick Perry and the state of Texas, seeking to halt redistricting based on census data which allegedly failed to count up to 250,000 Hispanic residents of colonias.[4] Later in April, Democratic U.S. Representative
Lloyd Doggett released a map which he alleged had been submitted by Republican members of Congress to leaders of the
Texas Legislature. The map would divide
Travis County between four districts, three of which would favor Republicans and one of which would favor Democrats.[5]
In May,
state representativeBurt Solomons, a Republican, expressed concern that the legislature would not produce a congressional redistricting map by May 30, when it was scheduled to adjourn, and that a
special session would be necessary.[6]State senatorKel Seliger, the chair of the Senate's Select Committee on Redistricting, also downplayed the likelihood that redistricting legislation would be passed but emphasized the importance of creating a "credible instrument for the court to consider."[7] Joe Barton later filed a lawsuit in response to perceived "inaction" by the legislature on redistricting.[8] On May 25, Seliger confirmed that the legislature would not pass redistricting legislation, and that a congressional map would be drawn either by a
federal court or in a special session.[9] The same day, Rick Perry reiterated his position that the Legislature rather than the courts should draw the map,[10] and three days later said he would call a special session on the condition that legislators decide on a map in advance.[11]
On May 30, Perry called a special session.[12] On May 31, the first day of the special session, redistricting was added to the list of matters to be addressed and Seliger and Solomons released a proposed congressional map. In Seliger and Solomons' map,
African Americans and Hispanic Americans form majorities in two of the new districts, while the other two new districts gave Perry more than 56 per cent of their vote in the
2010 gubernatorial election. The districts represented by Doggett and Republicans
Quico Canseco and
Blake Farenthold would be made more favorable to Republicans. Democratic state representative
Marc Veasey and Nina Perales of the
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund criticized the plan, which they said failed to increase the number of minority opportunity districts.[13] Democratic U.S. Representative
Gene Green filed a lawsuit against the map, alleging that it would neglect Hispanic population growth primarily in Harris County.[14] On June 2, Solomons acknowledged that the map was likely to undergo significant changes.[15]
A new map was proposed by Seliger on June 2, under which Republican U.S. Representative
Ron Paul's district would be significantly modified and a district which linked urban
Houston to rural
East Texas counties would be redrawn. The map was passed by the State Senate's redistricting committee,[16] and by the full Senate on
party lines on June 6.[17] A slightly different map from that passed by the Senate was passed by the House of Representatives' Redistricting Committee. The House map would lower the Hispanic population of Canseco's district by concentrating Hispanics in Democrat
Charlie Gonzalez's district.[18] The map was passed by the full House of Representatives on June 14.[19] On June 20, the Senate voted to accept the House's amendments.[20] The map was signed into law by Perry on July 18.[21]
On September 13, the
Civil Rights Division of the
U.S. Department of Justice said that, based on a preliminary investigation, the map appeared to have been "adopted, at least in part, for the purpose of diminishing the ability of citizens of the United States, on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, to elect their preferred candidates of choice to Congress" and would have a discriminatory effect.[22]
On November 8, a federal court refused to approve the Legislature's proposed map, thereby necessitating lengthy legal proceedings and the implementation of an interim map for the 2012 elections, to be drawn by a panel of federal judges.[23] On November 23, a panel of three federal judges drew a map in which three of the four new districts would favor Democrats.[24] However, three days later,
Greg Abbott, the
Texas Attorney General, announced that the state would file for an emergency
stay from the
U.S. Supreme Court.[25] On December 9, the Supreme Court blocked the use of the map drawn by federal judges. This was expected to necessitate delaying the state's filing deadline and primary elections.[26]
On January 20, 2012, the Supreme Court rejected the map drawn by the federal court, holding that the court had not paid enough attention to the maps drawn by the legislature, and sent the case back to the lower court.[27]
Overview
2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas[28][29]
There was speculation that Hall might retire due to his age - he was 89 years old - and a closer than usual primary in 2010 (though he still won with 57% of the vote).[34] Hall faced two opponents in his party's May primary: businessman and 2010 primary candidate Steve Clark,[35] and businessman Lou Gigliotti.[36]
Neugebauer, considered perhaps the most conservative of all House members, faced opposition in his primary from Chris Winn, the former
Lubbock County GOP chairman.[88]
Rogers was disavowed by some local Democrats for her controversial platform,[94] which included impeaching President Obama and colonizing outer space.[95] She was frequently seen on the campaign trail singing, "
25th Amendment now--he is nuts! Obama is nuts!"[96] referring to LaRouche's call to have Obama removed from office on the grounds of insanity.[97]
Former U.S. Representative
Ciro Rodriguez, who represented the 23rd district from 2007 until 2011, had initially planned to seek the Democratic nomination in the 23rd district;[98] however, in November 2011, he announced he would instead run in the new
35th district,[99] and later said he would run in whichever district contained his home (which transpired to be the 22nd).[100]
On March 5, 2012, Patrick McGehearty, a computer scientist, dropped out of the Democratic primary to support his wife through a medical problem. McGehearty endorsed Tim Rusk, an attorney from
Euless.[105]
Democrat
Lloyd Doggett, who had represented
Texas's 25th congressional district since 2005, had intended to seek re-election in the new
35th district;[106] however, the November 2011 interim map would allow him to instead run in the 25th district.[107] In the event, he ran in the 35th district, as the final version of the 25th was almost entirely a new, and much more Republican leaning seat.
Guadalupe County, a Republican stronghold, was removed from the reconfigured District 28.[123] Cuellar lost four counties and was held to 56 percent of the general election vote in 2010, when he defeated the Republican Bryan Keith Underwood.
Though his hometown of
Arlington is contained entirely within the 33rd district, Republican
Joe Barton, who had represented the 6th district since 1985, ran again in the 6th district.[136] During redistricting, Republicans Bill Lawrence, former mayor of
Highland Village, former
Secretary of StateRoger Williams and former
Railroad CommissionerMichael L. Williams had all at one point considered running in a district numbered the 33rd. After the district map was finalized, Lawrence ran for the 12th district, and Roger Williams and Michael Williams both switched to the 25th.[114]
The 34th is a newly numbered district. Half of the voters came from the 27th district once held by both
Solomon Ortiz and
Blake Farenthold, and most of the remainder came from the 15th. It contains all of
Cameron,
Willacy,
Kleberg,
Kenedy,
Jim Wells,
Bee,
Goliad and
DeWitt counties, and parts of
Gonzales,
San Patricio and
Hidalgo counties. It is 73.1% Hispanic by citizen voting population, and voted for President Obama 60–39 in 2008.
Texas's 35th Congressional District includes parts of the
San Antonio metropolitan area, including portions of
Bexar County, thin strips of
Comal and
Hays, and all of
Caldwell and
Atascosa counties, as well as portions of southern and eastern
Austin in
Travis County largely from the 25th.[138]
The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the 36
U.S. representatives from the state of
Texas—an increase of four seats in
reapportionment following the
2010 United States census. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial
presidential election and an
election for the U.S. Senate. The
primary election had been scheduled to be held on March 6, 2012, with a
runoff election on May 22; because of problems arising from redistricting, the primary was postponed to May 29, and the run-off to July 31.[1]
With 58% of voting age people turning out, all existing seats were held by their respective parties with one exception, the Democrats picking up the 23rd District. Of the four new seats, two were won by the
Republican Party for a total of 24 seats, and two were won by the
Democratic Party for a total of 12 seats.
In March 2011, The Texas Tribune conducted a poll of Texas "insiders" which found 54 per cent to believe three of the state's four new congressional districts would be drawn to favor the
Republican Party, with one district drawn to favor the
Democratic Party; while 37 per cent of those polled felt two districts would favor Republicans while two would favor Democrats.[2] In April, Republican U.S. Representative
Lamar Smith argued that the seats should be evenly split between the parties in order to reflect Texas's growing
Hispanic population and abide by the
Voting Rights Act.
Joe Barton, also a Republican U.S. Representative, disagreed, arguing that three or four of the districts should favor Republicans.[3]
Also in April, the
Mexican American Legislative Caucus filed a
lawsuit against
GovernorRick Perry and the state of Texas, seeking to halt redistricting based on census data which allegedly failed to count up to 250,000 Hispanic residents of colonias.[4] Later in April, Democratic U.S. Representative
Lloyd Doggett released a map which he alleged had been submitted by Republican members of Congress to leaders of the
Texas Legislature. The map would divide
Travis County between four districts, three of which would favor Republicans and one of which would favor Democrats.[5]
In May,
state representativeBurt Solomons, a Republican, expressed concern that the legislature would not produce a congressional redistricting map by May 30, when it was scheduled to adjourn, and that a
special session would be necessary.[6]State senatorKel Seliger, the chair of the Senate's Select Committee on Redistricting, also downplayed the likelihood that redistricting legislation would be passed but emphasized the importance of creating a "credible instrument for the court to consider."[7] Joe Barton later filed a lawsuit in response to perceived "inaction" by the legislature on redistricting.[8] On May 25, Seliger confirmed that the legislature would not pass redistricting legislation, and that a congressional map would be drawn either by a
federal court or in a special session.[9] The same day, Rick Perry reiterated his position that the Legislature rather than the courts should draw the map,[10] and three days later said he would call a special session on the condition that legislators decide on a map in advance.[11]
On May 30, Perry called a special session.[12] On May 31, the first day of the special session, redistricting was added to the list of matters to be addressed and Seliger and Solomons released a proposed congressional map. In Seliger and Solomons' map,
African Americans and Hispanic Americans form majorities in two of the new districts, while the other two new districts gave Perry more than 56 per cent of their vote in the
2010 gubernatorial election. The districts represented by Doggett and Republicans
Quico Canseco and
Blake Farenthold would be made more favorable to Republicans. Democratic state representative
Marc Veasey and Nina Perales of the
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund criticized the plan, which they said failed to increase the number of minority opportunity districts.[13] Democratic U.S. Representative
Gene Green filed a lawsuit against the map, alleging that it would neglect Hispanic population growth primarily in Harris County.[14] On June 2, Solomons acknowledged that the map was likely to undergo significant changes.[15]
A new map was proposed by Seliger on June 2, under which Republican U.S. Representative
Ron Paul's district would be significantly modified and a district which linked urban
Houston to rural
East Texas counties would be redrawn. The map was passed by the State Senate's redistricting committee,[16] and by the full Senate on
party lines on June 6.[17] A slightly different map from that passed by the Senate was passed by the House of Representatives' Redistricting Committee. The House map would lower the Hispanic population of Canseco's district by concentrating Hispanics in Democrat
Charlie Gonzalez's district.[18] The map was passed by the full House of Representatives on June 14.[19] On June 20, the Senate voted to accept the House's amendments.[20] The map was signed into law by Perry on July 18.[21]
On September 13, the
Civil Rights Division of the
U.S. Department of Justice said that, based on a preliminary investigation, the map appeared to have been "adopted, at least in part, for the purpose of diminishing the ability of citizens of the United States, on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, to elect their preferred candidates of choice to Congress" and would have a discriminatory effect.[22]
On November 8, a federal court refused to approve the Legislature's proposed map, thereby necessitating lengthy legal proceedings and the implementation of an interim map for the 2012 elections, to be drawn by a panel of federal judges.[23] On November 23, a panel of three federal judges drew a map in which three of the four new districts would favor Democrats.[24] However, three days later,
Greg Abbott, the
Texas Attorney General, announced that the state would file for an emergency
stay from the
U.S. Supreme Court.[25] On December 9, the Supreme Court blocked the use of the map drawn by federal judges. This was expected to necessitate delaying the state's filing deadline and primary elections.[26]
On January 20, 2012, the Supreme Court rejected the map drawn by the federal court, holding that the court had not paid enough attention to the maps drawn by the legislature, and sent the case back to the lower court.[27]
Overview
2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas[28][29]
There was speculation that Hall might retire due to his age - he was 89 years old - and a closer than usual primary in 2010 (though he still won with 57% of the vote).[34] Hall faced two opponents in his party's May primary: businessman and 2010 primary candidate Steve Clark,[35] and businessman Lou Gigliotti.[36]
Neugebauer, considered perhaps the most conservative of all House members, faced opposition in his primary from Chris Winn, the former
Lubbock County GOP chairman.[88]
Rogers was disavowed by some local Democrats for her controversial platform,[94] which included impeaching President Obama and colonizing outer space.[95] She was frequently seen on the campaign trail singing, "
25th Amendment now--he is nuts! Obama is nuts!"[96] referring to LaRouche's call to have Obama removed from office on the grounds of insanity.[97]
Former U.S. Representative
Ciro Rodriguez, who represented the 23rd district from 2007 until 2011, had initially planned to seek the Democratic nomination in the 23rd district;[98] however, in November 2011, he announced he would instead run in the new
35th district,[99] and later said he would run in whichever district contained his home (which transpired to be the 22nd).[100]
On March 5, 2012, Patrick McGehearty, a computer scientist, dropped out of the Democratic primary to support his wife through a medical problem. McGehearty endorsed Tim Rusk, an attorney from
Euless.[105]
Democrat
Lloyd Doggett, who had represented
Texas's 25th congressional district since 2005, had intended to seek re-election in the new
35th district;[106] however, the November 2011 interim map would allow him to instead run in the 25th district.[107] In the event, he ran in the 35th district, as the final version of the 25th was almost entirely a new, and much more Republican leaning seat.
Guadalupe County, a Republican stronghold, was removed from the reconfigured District 28.[123] Cuellar lost four counties and was held to 56 percent of the general election vote in 2010, when he defeated the Republican Bryan Keith Underwood.
Though his hometown of
Arlington is contained entirely within the 33rd district, Republican
Joe Barton, who had represented the 6th district since 1985, ran again in the 6th district.[136] During redistricting, Republicans Bill Lawrence, former mayor of
Highland Village, former
Secretary of StateRoger Williams and former
Railroad CommissionerMichael L. Williams had all at one point considered running in a district numbered the 33rd. After the district map was finalized, Lawrence ran for the 12th district, and Roger Williams and Michael Williams both switched to the 25th.[114]
The 34th is a newly numbered district. Half of the voters came from the 27th district once held by both
Solomon Ortiz and
Blake Farenthold, and most of the remainder came from the 15th. It contains all of
Cameron,
Willacy,
Kleberg,
Kenedy,
Jim Wells,
Bee,
Goliad and
DeWitt counties, and parts of
Gonzales,
San Patricio and
Hidalgo counties. It is 73.1% Hispanic by citizen voting population, and voted for President Obama 60–39 in 2008.
Texas's 35th Congressional District includes parts of the
San Antonio metropolitan area, including portions of
Bexar County, thin strips of
Comal and
Hays, and all of
Caldwell and
Atascosa counties, as well as portions of southern and eastern
Austin in
Travis County largely from the 25th.[138]