United States House of Representatives, Texas District 1

Texas District 1 of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves the northeast corner of the state of Texas. As of the 2000 census, District 1 represents 651,619 people.

Related Topics:
United States House of Representatives - Texas - 2000 - Census

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The district takes up almost all of the border with Arkansas. It consists largely of two small East Texas metropolitan areas--Lufkin-Nacogdoches and Tyler-Longview.

Related Topics:
Arkansas - East Texas - Metropolitan area - Lufkin - Nacogdoches - Tyler - Longview

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District 1 once encompassed large parts of North Texas and Central Texas, but as the population of Texas grew, the district got smaller until it only encompassed about half of Northeast Texas.

Related Topics:
North Texas - Central Texas - Northeast Texas

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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 United States House of Representatives, Texas District 4. Lufkin, Tyler and Longview were added in its place.

Related Topics:
Texarkana - 2003 - House Majority Leader - Tom DeLay - United States House of Representatives, Texas District 4

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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.

Related Topics:
Democrats - Republicans - Max Sandlin - November - 2004 - Louie Gohmert - Reconstruction

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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.

Related Topics:
Wright Patman - New Deal

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