Texas's 13th congressional district

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 northwestern parts of North Texas. The principal cities in the district are Amarillo, Gainesville and Wichita Falls. It winds across the Panhandle into the South Plains, then runs east across the Red River Valley. Covering over , 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. After the 2020 census was completed, the 13th district was heavily redrawn to incorporate most of Denton, an increasingly Democratic-leaning suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex which had previously anchored the . With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of R+24, it is one of the most Republican districts in Texas. The district's current configuration dates from 1973, when the Panhandle-based 18th district was merged with the Texoma-based 13th. The merged district contained more of the old 18th's territory.

The Panhandle had been one of the first areas of Texas to break away from a Solid South voting pattern. While the region's voters began splitting their tickets as early as the 1940s (and actually elected a Republican during a 1950 special election), Democrats continued to hold most local offices, as well as most of the area's seats in the state legislature, well into the 1990s. 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.

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, routinely winning by landslide margins when they face any opposition at all. By the turn of the millennium, there were almost no elected Democrats left above the county level.

In 2012, Barack Obama took just 18.5% of the vote in the 13th, his lowest percentage of any congressional district in the nation. In 2016, it was Hillary Clinton's second largest margin of defeat in a congressional district after . 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%.

Recent election results from statewide races

2023–2027 boundaries

{| class=wikitable

! Year

! Office

! Results

||2008

| President

| align="right" |McCain 73% - 26%

||2012

| President

| align="right" |Romney 77% - 23%

|rowspan=2|2014

| Senate

| align="right" |Cornyn 82% - 18%

| Governor

| align="right" |Abbott 79% - 21%

||2016

| President

| align="right" |Trump 73% - 22%

|rowspan=5|2018

| Senate

| align="right" |Cruz 71% - 28%

| Governor

| align="right" |Abbott 74% - 24%

| Lt. Governor

| align="right" |Patrick 69% - 28%

| Attorney General

| align="right" |Paxton 71% - 27%

| Comptroller of Public Accounts

| align="right" |Hegar 72% - 24%

|rowspan=2|2020

| President

| align="right" |Trump 72% - 26%

| Senate

| align="right" |Cornyn 73% - 25%

|rowspan=4|2022

| Governor

| align="right" |Abbott 75% - 24%

| Lt. Governor

| align="right" |Patrick 73% - 24%

| Attorney General

| align="right" |Paxton 73% - 24%

| Comptroller of Public Accounts

| align="right" |Hegar 75% - 23%

|rowspan=2|2024

| President

| align="right" |Trump 73% - 26%

| Senate

| align="right" |Cruz 71% - 27%

2027–2033 boundaries

{| class=wikitable

! Year

! Office

! Results

||2008

| President

| align="right" |McCain 72% - 26%

||2012

| President

| align="right" |Romney 77% - 23%

|rowspan=2|2014

| Senate

| align="right" |Cornyn 81% - 19%

| Governor

| align="right" |Abbott 78% - 22%

||2016

| President

| align="right" |Trump 73% - 23%

|rowspan=5|2018

| Senate

| align="right" |Cruz 71% - 29%

| Governor

| align="right" |Abbott 73% - 25%

| Lt. Governor

| align="right" |Patrick 68% - 29%

| Attorney General

| align="right" |Paxton 70% - 28%

| Comptroller of Public Accounts

| align="right" |Hegar 72% - 25%

|rowspan=2|2020

| President

| align="right" |Trump 71% - 27%

| Senate

| align="right" |Cornyn 72% - 25%

|rowspan=4|2022

| Governor

| align="right" |Abbott 74% - 25%

| Lt. Governor

| align="right" |Patrick 72% - 25%

| Attorney General

| align="right" |Paxton 72% - 25%

| Comptroller of Public Accounts

| align="right" |Hegar 74% - 23%

|rowspan=2|2024

| President

| align="right" |Trump 73% - 26%

| Senate

| align="right" |Cruz 70% - 28%

Current composition

For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:

Archer County (6)

: All 6 communities

Armstrong County (2)

: Claude, Washburn

Baylor County (1)

: Seymour

Briscoe County (2)

: Quitaque, Silverton

Carson County (4)

: All 4 communities

Childress County (1)

: Childress

Clay County (6)

: All 6 communities

Collingsworth County (4)

: All 4 communities

Cottle County (1)

: Paducah

Dallam County (2)

: Dalhart (shared with Hartley County), Texline

Deaf Smith County (1)

: Hereford

Denton County (2)

: Denton (part; also 26th), Krum

Dickens County (2)

: Dickens, Spur

Donley County (4)

: All 4 communities

Foard County (1)

: Crowell

Gray County (4)

: All 4 communities

Hall County (4)

: All 4 communities

Hansford County (3)

: All 3 communities

Hardeman County (2)

: Chillicothe, Quanah

Hartley County (3)

: All 3 communities

Hemphill County (2)

: Canadian, Glazier

Hutchinson County (5)

: All 5 communities

King County (1)

: Guthrie

Knox County (4)

: All 4 communities

Lipscomb County (5)

: All 5 communities

Moore County (3)

: All 3 communities

Montague County (7)

: All 7 communities

Motley County (2)

: Matador, Roaring Springs

Ochiltree County (3)

: All 3 communities

Oldham County (4)

: All 4 communities

Potter County (3)

: All 3 communities

Randall County (8)

: All 8 communities

Roberts County (1)

: Miami

Sherman County (2)

: Stratford, Texhoma

Wheeler County (4)

: All 4 communities

Wilbarger County (4)

: All 4 communities

Wichita County (6)

: All 6 communities

Wise County (6)

: Alvord, Bridgeport, Chico, Decatur (part; also 26th), Lake Bridgeport, Runaway Bay

Future composition

Beginning with the 2026 election, the 13 district will consist of the following counties:

Archer
Armstrong
Baylor
Briscoe
Carson
Childress
Clay
Collingsworth
Cottle
Dallam
Deaf Smith
Denton (part)
Dickens
Donley
Foard
Gray
Hall
Hansford
Hardeman
Hartley
Hemphill
Hutchinson
King
Knox
Lipscomb
Montague
Moore
Motley
Ochiltree
Oldham
Potter
Randall
Roberts
Sherman
Wheeler
Wichita
Wilbarger
Wise (part)

List of members representing the district

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"

|- style="height:3em"

! Member

! Party

! Term

! Cong ress

! Election history

|- style="height:3em"

| colspan=5 | District established March 4, 1893

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Jeremiah V. Cockrell

| | Democratic

| nowrap | March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897

| Elected in 1892. Re-elected in 1894.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px John H. Stephens

| | Democratic

| nowrap | March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1917

| Elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. Re-elected in 1902. Re-elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1910. Re-elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px J. Marvin Jones

| | Democratic

| nowrap | March 4, 1917 – March 3, 1919

| Elected in 1916. Redistricted to the .

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Lucian W. Parrish

| | Democratic

| nowrap | March 4, 1919 – March 27, 1922

| Elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920. Died.

|- style="height:3em"

| colspan=2 | Vacant

| nowrap | March 27, 1922 – May 22, 1922

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Guinn Williams

| | Democratic

| nowrap | May 22, 1922 – March 3, 1933

| Elected to finish Parrish's term. Re-elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left |100px William D. McFarlane

| | Democratic

| nowrap | March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939

| Elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Ed Gossett

| | Democratic

| nowrap | January 3, 1939 – July 31, 1951

| 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. Resigned.

|- style="height:3em"

| colspan=2 | Vacant

| nowrap | July 31, 1951 – September 8, 1951

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Frank N. Ikard

| | Democratic

| nowrap | September 8, 1951 – December 15, 1961

| Elected to finish Gossett's term. Re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Resigned.

|- style="height:3em"

| colspan=2 | Vacant

| nowrap | December 15, 1961 – January 27, 1962

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Graham B. Purcell Jr.

| | Democratic

| nowrap | January 27, 1962 – January 3, 1973

| Elected to finish Ikard's term. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Lost reelection after redistricting.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Bob Price

| | Republican

| nowrap | January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975

| Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1972. Lost reelection.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Jack Hightower

| | Democratic

| nowrap | January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1985

| Elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Lost reelection.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Beau Boulter

| | Republican

| nowrap | January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1989

| Elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Bill Sarpalius

| | Democratic

| nowrap | January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1995

| Elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Lost reelection.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Mac Thornberry

| | Republican

| nowrap | January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2021

| 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. Retired.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px| Ronny Jackson

| | Republican

| January 3, 2021 – present

| Elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. Re-elected in 2024.

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's 13th congressional district

Recent election results from statewide races

2023–2027 boundaries

2027–2033 boundaries

Current composition

Future composition

List of members representing the district

Election results

Historical district boundaries

See also

References

Citations

General sources

External links