Texas's 1st congressional district

Infobox U.S. congressional district
state = Texas
district number = 1

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image width = 350
image caption =
representative = Louie Gohmert
party = Republican
english area =
metric area =
percent urban =
percent rural =
population = 651,619
population year = 2000
median income = 33,461
percent white = 74.4
percent black = 18.4
percent asian = 0.4
percent native american = 0.5
percent hispanic = 9.3
percent other race = 0.2
percent blue collar =
percent white collar =
percent gray collar =
cpvi = R+17

Texas's First congressional district in the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves the northeastern portion of the state of Texas. As of the 2000 census, the First District represents 651,619 people. It consists largely of three small East Texas metropolitan areas—Lufkin-Nacogdoches, in the south, Longview-Marshall, and Tyler.

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For most of its history, the district was based in Texarkana. However, in a controversial 2003 redistricting orchestrated by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Texarkana was drawn out of the district and moved to the neighboring Fourth congressional district. Lufkin, Tyler and Longview were added in its place.

The district was predominantly rural for much of its history, and thus was far friendlier to electing Democrats to Congress even as most of Texas swung toward the Republicans. The district's four-term Democratic incumbent, Max Sandlin, was a particularly severe critic of the DeLay-led redistricting effort, claiming that lumping rural areas with urban ones stifled the voice of rural voters. Indeed, the 2003 redistricting made the district more urban and Republican, especially with the addition of the Republican strongholds of Tyler and Longview. Sandlin was heavily defeated in November 2004 by Republican Louie Gohmert, a longtime judge in the Tyler area. Gohmert is the first Republican to represent the district since Reconstruction.

The district's best-known congressman, Wright Patman, represented the district for 47 years — the second-longest tenure of anyone in Congress from Texas. He was an early supporter of the New Deal, and later chaired the House Banking Committee for 12 years.

Demographics

Population: 651,619 (2000 Census) Under 18: 26.2% Over 65: 14.1% Married 58.7%Non-Hispanic White:71% Black:18% Hispanic:9% Asian:1%Foreign Born: 5.3% Language Other than English:9.8%Median Household Income:$33,461 Owner Occupied Housing:71.9% Income Above $200K:1.4%

Representatives from Texas's First congressional district

(*)Died in office.

Election results