| State: | Texas |
| District Number: | 4 |
| Image Name: | Texas US Congressional District 4 (since 2021).tif |
| Image Width: | 400 |
| Image Caption: | District map |
| Representative: | Pat Fallon |
| Party: | Republican |
| Residence: | Frisco |
| Distribution Ref: | [1] |
| Percent Urban: | 48.85 |
| Percent Rural: | 51.15 |
| Population: | 817,813[2] |
| Population Year: | 2022 |
| Median Income: | $92,686 |
| Percent White: | 59.5 |
| Percent Black: | 8.8 |
| Percent Asian: | 11.7 |
| Percent Native American: | 0.7 |
| Percent More Than One Race: | 4.6 |
| Percent Other Race: | 0.4 |
| Percent Hispanic: | 14.3 |
| Cpvi: | R+16[3] |
Texas's 4th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in an area of Northeast Texas, that includes some counties along the Red River northeast of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, as well as some outer eastern suburbs of the Metroplex. Austin College in Sherman, Texas is located within the district. As of 2017, the 4th district represents 747,188 people who are predominantly white (80.8%) and middle-class (median family income is US$56,062, compared to $50,046 nationwide).[2] It is currently represented by Pat Fallon.
All or portions of the following counties are in the 4th congressional district since 2023:[4]
Texas has had at least four congressional districts since the State's senators and representatives were re-seated in Congress after the Civil War.[5] The district's current configuration is dated from 1903. It has traditionally given its congressmen very long tenures in Washington; only six men have represented it since then.
Once a reliably Democratic district, the district swung rapidly into the Republican column at the federal level as Dallas' suburbs spilled into the western portion of the district. In fact, it has not supported a Democrat for president since 1964. However, as late as 1996, Bill Clinton carried ten of the sixteen counties that are currently in this district; many of those counties were in the 1st district at the time. Additionally, conservative Democrats continued to hold most of the district's local offices well into the 2000s.
For many years, it was based in Tyler, but a controversial 2003 redistricting orchestrated by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay drew it and neighboring Longview out of the 4th district and into neighboring 1st, which made it significantly more Republican. In the process, the 4th district was pushed slightly to the north, picking up Texarkana from the 1st district.
Ralph Hall, the one-time dean of the Texas congressional delegation, represented the district from 1981 to 2015. Originally a Democrat, he became a Republican in 2004. Hall's voting record had been very conservative—even by Texas Democratic standards—which served him well as the district abandoned its Democratic roots. By the turn of the century, he was the only elected Democrat above the county level in much of the district. He had been rumored as a party switcher for some time, and many experts believed he would almost certainly be succeeded by a Republican once he retired.
In 2014, Hall was defeated in the Republican primary by John Ratcliffe, who had served as the former United States Attorney for much of the 4th's territory, and was additionally the former mayor of Heath—a city coincidentally located near Hall's hometown of Rockwall. No Democrat even filed, though by this time, the district had become so heavily Republican that any Democratic candidate would have faced nearly impossible odds in any event. Underlining just how Republican this district was, the Democrats have only managed as much as 30% of the vote once since Hall's party switch.
In January 2015, Ratcliffe took office, and became only the fifth person to hold the seat. He ran unopposed for reelection in 2016, and defeated a nominal Democratic challenger in 2018.
In May 2020, Ratcliffe resigned his seat ahead of his swearing-in to become the 6th Director of National Intelligence.[6]
The district's best-known congressman was Sam Rayburn, the longtime Speaker of the House.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in the fourth district.
After the 2012 redistricting process, a large portion of Collin County had been removed, and replaced with the portion of Cass County that had been in Texas's 1st congressional district, all of Marion County, and a large portion of Upshur County.[7]
| Year | Result | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Bush 66 - 34% | |
| 2004 | Bush 70 - 29% | |
| 2008 | McCain 69 - 30% | |
| 2012[8] | Romney 74 - 25% | |
| 2016 | Trump 75 - 22% | |
| 2020 | Trump 74 - 24% |
| Name | Party | Years | Cong– ress | Electoral history | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District established March 4, 1863 | |||||||
| District inactive | nowrap | March 4, 1863 – March 31, 1870 | Civil War and Reconstruction | ||||
| align=left | Edward Degener | Republican | nowrap | March 31, 1870 – March 3, 1871 | Elected in 1870. Lost renomination. | ||
| align=left | John Hancock | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875 | Elected in 1870. Re-elected in 1872. Redistricted to the . | ||
| align=left | Roger Q. Mills | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883 | Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1874. Re-elected in 1876. Re-elected in 1878. Re-elected in 1880. Redistricted to the . | ||
| align=left | David B. Culberson | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1897 | Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Re-elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888. Re-elected in 1890. Re-elected in 1892. Re-elected in 1894. Retired. | ||
| align=left | John W. Cranford | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1899 | Elected in 1896. Retired, then died on the last day of the term. | ||
| align=left | John Levi Sheppard | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1899 – October 11, 1902 | Elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. Died. | ||
| Vacant | nowrap | October 11, 1902 – November 15, 1902 | |||||
| align=left | Morris Sheppard | Democratic | nowrap | November 15, 1902 – March 3, 1903 | Elected to finish Sheppard's term. Redistricted to the . | ||
| align=left | Choice B. Randell | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1913 | Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1902. Re-elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1910. Retired to run for U.S. senator. | ||
| align=left | Sam Rayburn | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1913 – November 16, 1961 | Elected in 1912. Re-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. Re-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. Died. | ||
| Vacant | nowrap | November 16, 1961 – January 30, 1962 | |||||
| align=left | Ray Roberts | Democratic | nowrap | January 30, 1962 – January 3, 1981 | Elected to finish Rayburn's term. 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. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Retired. | ||
Ralph Hall | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 1981 – January 5, 2004 | Elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Lost renomination. | |||
| Republican | nowrap | January 5, 2004 – January 3, 2015 | |||||
| align=left | John Ratcliffe | Republican | nowrap | January 3, 2015 – May 22, 2020 | Elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Resigned to become Director of National Intelligence. | ||
| Vacant | nowrap | May 22, 2020 – January 3, 2021 | |||||
| align=left | Pat Fallon | Republican | January 3, 2021 – present | Elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. | |||