Congressional races by state: TX

I am all for running everywhere, and the 50 state strategy.

But neither we nor the Republicans are running everywhere (at least not yet!) In this series, I will look at where we are running and not running; and where the Republicans are running and not running (I am not going to look in detail at where Republicans are not running, as I have no desire to help Republicans, however modestly)

This diary is partly inspired by the great work done by BENAWU, and informed by the great Race Tracker Wiki (links throughout).

crossposted to dailyKos

The numbers after each are a) Cook PVI and b) A rating of the district based on a model I created details here – basically a logistic model based on a lot of demographics; the number is the predicted probability of being Republican, based solely on the demographics

One note TX has been redrawn again, and my model numbers are for the old districts.  No way to fix this that I know of.

Texas has 32 Congressional House districts. 13 are held by Democrats of which 11 have officially filed as follows:



                                          Confirmed

district Cook Prob Repub   Incumbent       Challenger?    rating

TX-09    D+21     3        Green              Yes         safe Dem.

TX-15    D+ 3    37        Hinojosa            No  

TX-16    D+9     29        Reyes               No  

TX-17    R+18    55        Edwards             No

TX-22    R+15    43        Lampson            Yes       fairly safe, rerun

TX-23    R+4     47        Rodriguez          unclear

TX-25    D+1     49        Doggett             No

TX-27    R+1     35        Ortiz               No

TX-28    R+1     42        Cuellar             No

TX-29    D+8     24        Green              Yes        safe, rerun

TX-30   D+26     12        Johnson             No



The following 2 Democratic incumbents haven’t filed yet but are expected to do so.



TX-18   D+23      8        Lee                No  

TX-20   D+8      25        Gonzalez           No

So, there are confirmed challengers in only 3 Democratic districts, all of which look pretty safe, and two of which are re-runs of 2006.

I give more details on the following, 19 Republican held seats; first the 10 of these have filed candidates:

TX03 R+17  .42.  

This district is northern Dallas, and also Plano and Garland.

Sam Johnson was first elected in 1991.  He has had no close races since his first one.  Ron Minkow and Thomas Daley are running against him, and a couple other people might, but this has to be called a longshot.

TX-06  R+15, .47

This district spreads southeastward from the western part of Ft Worth, running about 150 miles through Corsicanna and Waxahachie

Joe Barton, first elected in 1984, may be slightly mroe vulnerable than his relatively easy wins show.  In 2006, David Harris got 37% of the vote with only $27,000 (he was out-funded almost 100-1!)

Steve Bush is running as a Democrat, hey, his name is Bush! That’s probably going to convince a couple Republicans….. well… maybe.

TX-07  R+16  .45

The 7th runs roughly northwestward from the western suburbs of Houston, but it’s shaped sort of like a Z, so it’s hard to describe.

John Culbertson was first elected in 2000.  In 2004, he got just about as many votes as Bush, despite out-raising his opponent 30-1.  In 2006, Jim Henley raised about $122,000 and got 38%.  

James Henley is running again, as is Michael Skelly.  

TX-10  R+13, .57

The 10th runs from eastern Austin to western Houston.  

Michael McCool was first elected in 2004.  In 2006, Ted Ankrum got 40% of the vote with only $55,000 in funding.  

In 2008, there are at least two challenger: Larry Joe Doherty and Dan Grant, and each seems to have already raised more than that.

TX-12  R+14 .49

The 12th is a large district to the west and northwest of Ft. Worth

Granger was first elected in 1996.  None of her races have been close, and Granger did better than Bush in 2004.

Tracey Smith is running in 2008.

TX-13 R+18 .52

The 13th is 40,000 sq miles mostly along the borders with OK and NM, including Amarillo.

Thornberry was first elected in 1994, and has not been seriously challenged. In 2006, Roger Waun got 23% of the vote, with only $27,000.  

Waun is running again

TX-19 R+25, .48

The 19th is shaped sort of like a W, or maybe a U with a hook.  It runs from the NM border to the middle of TX, including Lubbock and Abilene.

Neugebauer was first elected in 2003.  In 2004 he beat Stenholm 58-40, in a fairly equally funded race.

Dwight Fullingim is running in 2008, and a couple others might run, as well.

TX-26  R+12 .45

The 26th is a narrow strip running north from the Dallas-FtWorth suburbs to the OK border, widening around the town of Denton.

Burgess was elected in 2002.  His majorities have been decreasing:

2002 – 75%, 2004 – 66%, 2006 – 60%, all against opponents with almost no funds (in 2006, his opponent (Barnwell) got 37% with only $16,000).  

Ken Leach is running against Burgess in 2008.  

TX-31 R+15 0.49

The 31st runs northwest from the northern suburbs of Austin.

Carter, first elected in 2002, was in a relatively close race in 2006; he won 58-39 against Mary Beth Harrell, who was outspent more than 4-1.

In 2008, the challenger is Brian Ruiz.

TX-32 R+11 .34

The 32nd is a ridiculously shaped district that includes the area between Ft. Worth and Dallas, and also North Dallas and University Park, and extends out to Ricardson.

Sessions, first elected in 1996, was in one of the most expensive races in 2004 (each candidate spent around $4.5 million) – he won, 54-44, doing considerably worse than Bush. In 2006, Will Pryor did almost as well, getting 41% while raising only half a million.

In 2008 Steve Love is running, as is Eric Roberson.

4 further districts have confirmed candidates that are yet to file officially:

TX-04  R+17  .70

The 4th is the northeast corner of TX, mostly bordering OK and AR. (It’s one of the few districts in TX that is pretty much a rectangle!)

Hall was first elected in 1980, and he’s getting old (he will turn 85 in May).  He’s won easily against underfunded opponents, but in 2006, Glenn Melancon got 33% of the vote with only 64,000.  

Melancon is running again, but first Hall has to survive a primary.

TX-08 R+20 .74

The 8th is on the eastern part of TX, right around where TX is widest. It borders LA.

Brady was first elected in 1996.  He has won easily, the last two times against Jim Wright (Wright got 30% in 2004 and 33% in 2006, both times with very little money).

Wright is running again.

TX-11 R+25 .54

The 11th runs from the eastern suburbs of Austin to the NM border, including Odessa, Midland, and San Angelo.

Conaway was first elected in 2004, and was unopposed in 2006.

Floyd Crider is running in 2008.

TX-24 R+15 .43

The 24th is a bizarrely shaped district, mostly in between Dallas and Ft. Worth.

Marchant, first elected in 2004, has won easily against Gary Page (twice), although Page got very little money.

This year, Tom Love is running

And two further districts have unconfirmed candidates:

TX-05 R+16 .57

The fifth is another bizarre district….it sort of looks like California, with Nevada on the side.  It includes both Palestine and Athens….and stretches southeast from Dallas

Hensarling was first elected in 2002 and has won easily against almost unfunded opposition; in 2006, Thompson got 36% with only $20,000

TX-21 R+13 .58

The 21st is yet another oddly shaped district, mostly to the north and west of San Antonio.

Smith was first elected in 1986.  He has won easily.  This district was redrawn for 2006.

That leaves 3 districts with no candidate!

And here they are:

TX-01 R+17 .59

The first is along the eastern edge of TX, bordering LA and a tiny bit of AK.

Gohmert was first elected in 2004. He has won easily, but no more easily than a lot of other TX Repubs.  I can’t say it’s likely we would win, but I can’t see why we aren’t challenging.

TX-02 R+12 .47

The 2nd is another bizarrely shaped district; most of the people live in or near Beaumont.

Poe was first elected in 2004.  In the nebulous world of TX redistricting, his opponent in 2004 was Nick Lampson, who is now the rep. from the 22nd, which doesn’t even border the current 2nd.

Conrad Allen announced that he was forming an exploratory committee, set up a campaign website (now defunct) and disappeared off the face of the earth.

TX-14 R+14 .56

The 14th may be the most bizarre of all the bizarrely shaped districts.  It runs along the gulf of Mexico, mostly south of Galveston, but it’s sort of interrupted by a bunch of other districts.

This bizarrely shaped district has a bizarre rep, even for Texas: Ron Paul.

We had a candidate then he switched parties!

summary

Well….



Currently       Total      Confirmed challenger     %

Democratic        13               3               24

Republican        19              14               74