| Election Name: | 1976 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas |
| Country: | Texas |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1974 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas |
| Previous Year: | 1974 |
| Next Election: | 1978 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas |
| Next Year: | 1978 |
| Seats For Election: | All 24 Texas seats to the United States House of Representatives |
| Election Date: | November 2, 1976 |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Last Election1: | 21 |
| Seats Before1: | 20 |
| Seats1: | 22 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,368,543 |
| Percentage1: | 64.7% |
| Swing1: | 7.6% |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Last Election2: | 3 |
| Seats Before2: | 4 |
| Seats2: | 2 |
| Seat Change2: | 2 |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,277,165 |
| Percentage2: | 34.9% |
| Swing2: | 7.5% |
The 1976 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas occurred on November 2, 1976, to elect the members of the state of Texas's delegation to the United States House of Representatives. Texas had twenty-four seats in the House apportioned according to the 1970 United States census.[1]
Texas underwent mid-decade redistricting as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court case White v. Weiser. The court's modified districts were used in 1974. In 1975, the Texas Legislature modified the boundaries District 2 and District 6 to move the town of Streetman, which is on the border of Navarro County and Freestone County, fully within the boundaries of District 6.[2] [3]
These elections occurred simultaneously with the United States Senate elections of 1976, the United States House elections in other states, the presidential election, and various state and local elections.
Democrats maintained their majority of U.S. House seats from Texas, gaining two seats from the Republicans, increasing their majority to twenty-two out of twenty-four seats.[4]
| 1976 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas[5] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | Percentage | Seats before | Seats after | +/– | ||
| Democratic | 2,368,543 | 65.38% | 20 | 22 | +2 | ||
| Republican | 1,277,960 | 35.27% | 4 | 2 | -2 | ||
| American | 13,960 | 0.39% | 0 | 0 | - | ||
| La Raza Unida | 2,515 | 0.07% | 0 | 0 | - | ||
| Socialist Workers | 735 | 0.02% | 0 | 0 | - | ||
| Totals | 3,622,918 | 100.00% | 24 | 24 | - | ||
See also: Texas's 1st congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Wright Patman, the Dean of the House, died on March 7, 1976.[6] This prompted a special election to be held, which was won by fellow Democrat Sam B. Hall.[7]
See also: Texas's 2nd congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Charlie Wilson ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 3rd congressional district. Incumbent Republican James M. Collins ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 4th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Ray Roberts ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 5th congressional district. Incumbent Republican Alan Steelman retired to run for U.S. Senator.[8]
See also: Texas's 6th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Olin E. Teague ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 7th congressional district. Incumbent Republican Bill Archer ran for re-election unopposed.
See also: Texas's 8th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Bob Eckhardt ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 9th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Jack Brooks ran for re-election unopposed.
See also: Texas's 10th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat J. J. Pickle ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 11th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat William R. Poage ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 12th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Jim Wright ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 13th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Jack Hightower ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 14th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat John Andrew Young ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 15th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Kika de la Garza ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 16th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Richard Crawford White ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 17th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Omar Burleson ran for re-election unopposed.
See also: Texas's 18th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Barbara Jordan ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 19th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat George H. Mahon ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 20th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Henry B. González ran for re-election unopposed.
See also: Texas's 21st congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Bob Krueger ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 22nd congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Robert R. Casey resigned to become commissioner to the United States Maritime Commission.[9] This prompted a special election to be held. Republican Ron Paul won the election in a runoff against former State Senator Robert Gammage, running primarily on Libertarian economic issues, flipping the district.[10] [11] He ran for re-election.
See also: Texas's 23rd congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Abraham Kazen ran for re-election unopposed.
See also: Texas's 24th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Dale Milford ran for re-election.