Texas's 13th congressional district explained

State:	Texas
District Number:	13
Image Name:	Texas US Congressional District 13 (since 2021).tif
Image Width:	400
Image Caption:	Texas's 13th congressional district since January 3, 2023.
Representative:	Ronny Jackson
Party:	Republican
Residence:	Amarillo
Percent Urban:	68.88
Percent Rural:	31.12
Population:	776,421^[1] ^[2]
Population Year:	2022
Median Income:	$64,369
Percent White:	58.1
Percent Black:	6.5
Percent Asian:	2.5
Percent More Than One Race:	3.8
Percent Hispanic:	28.2
Percent Other Race:	1.0
Cpvi:	R+26^[3]

Texas's 13th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Texas that includes most of the Texas Panhandle, parts of Texoma and northwestern parts of North Texas. The principal cities in the district are Amarillo, Gainesville and Wichita Falls.^[4] It winds across the Panhandle into the South Plains, then runs east across the Red River Valley. Covering over 40000sqmi, it is the 19th-largest district by area in the nation, the 14th-largest that does not cover an entire state, as well as the second-largest in Texas behind the 23rd congressional district. After the 2020 census was completed, the 13th district was heavily redrawn to incorporate Denton, an increasingly Democratic-leaning suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex which had previously anchored the .^[5] With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of R+26, it is one of the most Republican districts in Texas.^[3]

The district has been represented in the United States House of Representatives by Republican Ronny Jackson since 2021, and previously by Republican Mac Thornberry, from 1995 until his decision not to run for reelection in 2020.^[6] The district's current configuration dates from 1973, when the Panhandle-based 18th district was merged with the Texoma-based 13th. The merged district contained more of the old 18th's territory.

The Panhandle had been one of the first areas of Texas to break away from a Solid South voting pattern. While the region's voters began splitting their tickets as early as the 1940s (and actually elected a Republican during a 1950 special election), Democrats continued to hold most local offices, as well as most of the area's seats in the state legislature, well into the 1990s. As late as 1976, Jimmy Carter won 33 of the 44 counties in the district, getting 60% to 70% of the vote in many of them.

Since Thornberry's ouster of three-term Democrat Bill Sarpalius in 1994, however, a Democrat has only crossed the 30 percent mark in 1996, 1998 and 2000. Republicans now dominate at nearly every level of government, routinely winning by landslide margins when they face any opposition at all. By the turn of the millennium, there were almost no elected Democrats left above the county level.

In 2012, Barack Obama took just 18.5% of the vote in the 13th, his lowest percentage of any congressional district in the nation. In 2016, it was Hillary Clinton's second largest margin of defeat in a congressional district after . She received an even lower percentage than President Obama four years prior, gathering 16.9% of the vote compared to Donald Trump's 79.9%.

Election results from presidential races

Year	Office	Result
2000	President	Bush 68% – 31%
2004	President	Bush 78% – 22%
2008	President	McCain 77% – 22%
2012	President	Romney 80% – 19%
2016	President	Trump 80% – 17%
2020	President	Trump 80% – 19%

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Term	Cong ress	Election history
District established March 4, 1893
align=left	Jeremiah V. Cockrell		Democratic	nowrap	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897		Elected in 1892. Re-elected in 1894.
align=left	John H. Stephens		Democratic	nowrap	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1917		Elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. Re-elected in 1902. Re-elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1910. Re-elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914.
align=left	J. Marvin Jones		Democratic	nowrap	March 4, 1917 – March 3, 1919		Elected in 1916. Redistricted to the .
align=left	Lucian W. Parrish		Democratic	nowrap	March 4, 1919 – March 27, 1922		Elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920. Died.
Vacant		nowrap	March 27, 1922 – May 22, 1922
align=left	Guinn Williams		Democratic	nowrap	May 22, 1922 – March 3, 1933		Elected to finish Parrish's term. Re-elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930.
align=left	William D. McFarlane		Democratic	nowrap	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939		Elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936.
align=left	Ed Gossett		Democratic	nowrap	January 3, 1939 – July 31, 1951		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. Resigned.
Vacant		nowrap	July 31, 1951 – September 8, 1951
align=left	Frank N. Ikard		Democratic	nowrap	September 8, 1951 – December 15, 1961		Elected to finish Gossett's term. Re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Resigned.
Vacant		nowrap	December 15, 1961 – January 27, 1962
align=left	Graham B. Purcell Jr.		Democratic	nowrap	January 27, 1962 – January 3, 1973		Elected to finish Ikard's term. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Lost reelection after redistricting.
align=left	Bob Price		Republican	nowrap	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975		Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1972. Lost reelection.
align=left	Jack Hightower		Democratic	nowrap	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1985		Elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Lost reelection.
align=left	Beau Boulter		Republican	nowrap	January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1989		Elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
align=left	Bill Sarpalius		Democratic	nowrap	January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995		Elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Lost reelection.
align=left	Mac Thornberry		Republican	nowrap	January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2021		Elected in 1994. Reelected in 1996. Reelected in 1998. Reelected in 2000. Reelected in 2002. Reelected in 2004. Reelected in 2006. Reelected in 2008. Reelected in 2010. Reelected in 2012. Reelected in 2014. Reelected in 2016. Reelected in 2018. Retired.
align=left	Ronny Jackson		Republican	January 3, 2021 – present		Elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022.

Election results

Often in recent years, the incumbent has either run unopposed or has only a third/fourth party candidate who is opposing them. Generally, the incumbent gets over 70% of the vote, even during years with huge opposition party pickups.

Historical district boundaries

See also

• List of United States congressional districts

References

General sources

• Book: Martis, Kenneth C.. The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. 1989. Macmillan Publishing Company. New York.
• Book: Martis, Kenneth C.. The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. 1982. Macmillan Publishing Company. New York.

External links

• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

Notes and References

1. Web site: Congressional Districts Relationship Files (State-based) - Geography - U.S. Census Bureau . www.census.gov . 6 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130402141525/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/cd_state.html . 2 April 2013 . dead.
2. Web site: My Congressional District. US Census Bureau. Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP). www.census.gov.
3. Web site: 2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List. 2023-01-10. Cook Political Report. July 12, 2022 . en.
4. Web site: NationalJournal - Log In. www.nationaljournal.com.
5. News: Opinion Gerrymander, U.S.A. . The New York Times . July 13, 2022 . Wegman . Jesse . Winter . Damon .
6. News: Gilman . Todd J. . Rep. Mac Thornberry becomes 6th Texas Republican in House to announce retirement ahead of 2020 election . . September 30, 2019 . September 30, 2019.