Texas's 13th congressional district

Texas's 13th congressional district
	Texas's 13th congressional district since January 3, 2013
	Mac Thornberry; R–Clarendon
Distribution	68.88% urban; 31.12% rural;
Population (2016)	707,421[1][2]
Median income	$50,557[2]
Ethnicity	65.07% white; 26.96% Hispanic; 5.1% black; 2.1% Asian; 0.77% Native American;
Cook PVI	R+33[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 northeastern 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 40,000 square miles (100,000 km²), 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. It covers more land mass than thirteen entire states.

The district has been represented since 1995 in the United States House of Representatives by Republican Mac Thornberry, who is not running for reelection in 2020.[5] Although according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index (CPVI) it is the most Republican district in the country (R+33),[6] it has not always been strongly Republican. 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. While voters in the Panhandle began splitting their tickets as early as the 1940s, Democrats continued to hold most local offices, as well as most of the area's seats in the state legislature, well into the 1990s.

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; there are almost no elected Democrats left above the county level. In 2012, it was President Barack Obama's lowest percentage of the vote in a congressional district. He received 18.5% of the vote. In 2016, it was Hillary Clinton's second largest margin of defeat in a congressional district after Alabama's 4th congressional district. 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	Result
2004	George W. Bush 78% – 22%
2008	John McCain 77% – 22%
2012	Mitt Romney 80% – 19%
2016	Donald Trump 80% – 17%

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Term	Congress	Election history
District created		March 4, 1893
Jeremiah V. Cockrell	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897	53rd 54th	[data unknown/missing]
John H. Stephens	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1917	55th 56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th	[data unknown/missing]
J. Marvin Jones	Democratic	March 4, 1917 – March 3, 1919	65th	Redistricted to the 18th district.
Lucian W. Parrish	Democratic	March 4, 1919 – March 27, 1922	66th 67th	Died.
Vacant		March 27, 1922 – May 22, 1922	67th
Guinn Williams	Democratic	May 22, 1922 – March 3, 1933	67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd	Elected to finish Parrish's term.
William D. McFarlane	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939	73rd 74th 75th	[data unknown/missing]
Ed Gossett	Democratic	January 3, 1939 – July 31, 1951	76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd	Resigned.
Vacant		July 31, 1951 – September 8, 1951	82nd
Frank N. Ikard	Democratic	September 8, 1951 – December 15, 1961	82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th	Elected to finish Gossett's term. Resigned.
Vacant		December 15, 1961 – January 27, 1962	57th
Graham B. Purcell Jr.	Democratic	January 27, 1962 – January 3, 1973	87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd	Elected to finish Ikard's term. Lost reelection after redistricting.
Bob Price	Republican	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975	93rd	Redistricted from the 18th district. Lost reelection.
Jack Hightower	Democratic	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1985	94th 95th 96th 97th 98th	Lost reelection.
Beau Boulter	Republican	January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1989	99th 100th	Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
Bill Sarpalius	Democratic	January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995	101st 102nd 103rd	Lost reelection.
Mac Thornberry	Republican	January 3, 1995 – Present	104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th	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. Not running for reelection in 2020.

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.

Texas 13th Congressional District 1994[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry	79,466	55.42
	Democratic	Bill Sarpalius (Incumbent)	63,923	44.58
Total votes			143,389	100.00

Texas 13th Congressional District 1996[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (Incumbent)	116,098	66.87
	Democratic	Samuel Brown Silverman	56,066	32.29
	Independent	Don Harkey	1,463	0.84
Total votes			173,627	100.00

Texas 13th Congressional District 1998[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (Incumbent)	81,141	67.92
	Democratic	Mark Harmon	37,027	30.99
	Libertarian	Georganne Baker Payne	1,298	1.09
Total votes			119,466	100.00

Texas 13th Congressional District 2000[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (Incumbent)	117,995	67.63
	Democratic	Curtis Clinesmith	54,343	31.15
	Libertarian	Brad Clardy	2,137	1.22
Total votes			174,475	100.00

Texas 13th Congressional District 2002[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (Incumbent)	119,401	79.27
	Democratic	Zane Reese	31,218	20.73
Total votes			150,619	100.00

Texas 13th Congressional District 2004[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (Incumbent)	189,448	92.31
	Libertarian	John Robert Deek	15,793	7.69
Total votes			205,241	100.00

Texas 13th Congressional District 2006[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (Incumbent)	108,107	74.35
	Democratic	Roger J. Waun	33,460	23.01
	Libertarian	Keith Dyer	3,829	2.63
Total votes			145,396	100.00

Texas 13th Congressional District 2008[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (Incumbent)	180,078	77.65
	Democratic	Roger James Waun	51,841	22.35
Total votes			231,919	100.00

Texas 13th Congressional District 2010[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (Incumbent)	113,201	87.05
	Independent	Keith Dyer	11,192	8.61
	Libertarian	John T. Burwell, Jr.	5,650	4.34
Total votes			130,043	100.00

Texas 13th Congressional District 2012[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (Incumbent)	187,775	90.98
	Libertarian	John Robert Deek	12,701	6.15
	Green	Keith F. Houston	5,912	2.86
Total votes			206,388	100.00

Texas 13th Congressional District 2014[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (Incumbent)	110,842	84.3
	Democratic	Mike Minter	16,822	12.8
	Libertarian	Emily Pivoda	2,863	2.2
	Green	Don Cook	924	0.7
Total votes			131,451	100

Texas 13th Congressional District 2016[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (Incumbent)	199,050	90.0
	Libertarian	Calvin DeWeese	14,725	6.7
	Green	H.F. "Rusty" Tomlinson	7,467	3.4
Total votes			221,242	100

Texas 13th Congressional District 2018[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (Incumbent)	168,090	81.6
	Democratic	Greg Sagan	34,859	16.9
	Libertarian	Calvin DeWeese	3,144	1.5
Total votes			206,093	100

Historical district boundaries

2007–2013

References

Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov.
"Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
"NationalJournal - Log In". www.nationaljournal.com.
Gilman, Todd J. (September 30, 2019). "Rep. Mac Thornberry becomes 6th Texas Republican in House to announce retirement ahead of 2020 election". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
"Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 115th Congress by The Cook Political Report (Arranged by State/District)" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 7, 2017.
"Office of the Secretary of State, Race Summary Report, 2016 General Election". elections.sos.state.tx.us.

Sources

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

External links

Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

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[auto-2] Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov.

[Cook-3] "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.

[4] "NationalJournal - Log In". www.nationaljournal.com.

[5] Gilman, Todd J. (September 30, 2019). "Rep. Mac Thornberry becomes 6th Texas Republican in House to announce retirement ahead of 2020 election". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 30, 2019.

[6] "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 115th Congress by The Cook Political Report (Arranged by State/District)" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 7, 2017.

[8] "Office of the Secretary of State, Race Summary Report, 2016 General Election". elections.sos.state.tx.us.