2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas

In March 2011, The Texas Tribune conducted a poll of Texas "insiders" which found 54 per cent to believe three of the state's four new congressional districts would be drawn to favor the Republican Party, with one district drawn to favor the Democratic Party; while 37 per cent of those polled felt two districts would favor Republicans while two would favor Democrats.[2] In April, Republican U.S. Representative Lamar Smith argued that the seats should be evenly split between the parties in order to reflect Texas's growing Hispanic population and abide by the Voting Rights Act. Joe Barton, also a Republican U.S. Representative, disagreed, arguing that three or four of the districts should favor Republicans.[3]

Also in April, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus filed a lawsuit against Governor Rick Perry and the state of Texas, seeking to halt redistricting based on Census data which allegedly failed to count up to 250,000 Hispanic residents of colonias.[4] Later in April, Democratic U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett released a map which he alleged had been submitted by Republican members of Congress to leaders of the Texas Legislature. The map would divide Travis County between four districts, three of which would favor Republicans and one of which would favor Democrats.[5]

In May, state representative Burt Solomons, a Republican, expressed concern that the legislature would not produce a congressional redistricting map by May 30, when it was scheduled to adjourn, and that a special session would be necessary.[6] State senator Kel Seliger, the chair of the Senate's Select Committee on Redistricting, also downplayed the likelihood that redistricting legislation would be passed but emphasized the importance of creating a "credible instrument for the court to consider."[7] Joe Barton later filed a lawsuit in response to perceived "inaction" by the legislature on redistricting.[8] On May 25, Seliger confirmed that the legislature would not pass redistricting legislation, and that a congressional map would be drawn either by a federal court or in a special session.[9] The same day, Rick Perry reiterated his position that the Legislature rather than the courts should draw the map,[10] and three days later said he would call a special session on the condition that legislators decide on a map in advance.[11]

On May 30, Perry called a special session.[12] On May 31, the first day of the special session, redistricting was added to the list of matters to be addressed and Seliger and Solomons released a proposed congressional map. In Seliger and Solomons' map, African Americans and Hispanic Americans form majorities in two of the new districts, while the other two new districts gave Perry more than 56 per cent of their vote in the 2010 gubernatorial election. The districts represented by Doggett and Republicans Quico Canseco and Blake Farenthold would be made more favorable to Republicans. Democratic state representative Marc Veasey and Nina Perales of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund criticized the plan, which they said failed to increase the number of minority opportunity districts.[13] Democratic U.S. Representative Gene Green filed a lawsuit against the map, alleging that it would neglect Hispanic population growth primarily in Harris County.[14] On June 2, Solomons acknowledged that the map was likely to undergo significant changes.[15]

A new map was proposed by Seliger on June 2, under which Republican U.S. Representative Ron Paul's district would be significantly modified and a district which linked urban Houston to rural East Texas counties would be redrawn. The map was passed by the State Senate's redistricting committee,[16] and by the full Senate on party lines on June 6.[17] A slightly different map from that passed by the Senate was passed by the House of Representatives' Redistricting Committee. The House map would lower the Hispanic population of Canseco's district by concentrating Hispanics in Democrat Charlie Gonzalez's district.[18] The map was passed by the full House of Representatives on June 14.[19] On June 20, the Senate voted to accept the House's amendments.[20] The map was signed into law by Perry on July 18.[21]

On September 13, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice said that, based on a preliminary investigation, the map appeared to have been "adopted, at least in part, for the purpose of diminishing the ability of citizens of the United States, on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, to elect their preferred candidates of choice to Congress" and would have a discriminatory effect.[22]

On November 8, a federal court refused to approve the Legislature's proposed map, thereby necessitating lengthy legal proceedings and the implementation of an interim map for the 2012 elections, to be drawn by a panel of federal judges.[23] On November 23, a panel of three federal judges drew a map in which three of the four new districts would favor Democrats.[24] However, three days later Greg Abbott, the Texas Attorney General, announced that the state would file for an emergency stay from the U.S. Supreme Court.[25] On December 9, the Supreme Court blocked the use of the map drawn by federal judges. This was expected to necessitate delaying the state's filing deadline and primary elections.[26]

On January 20, 2012, the Supreme Court rejected the map drawn by the federal court, holding that the court had not paid enough attention to the maps drawn by the legislature, and sent the case back to the lower court.[27]

Republican Louie Gohmert, who had represented Texas's 1st congressional district since 2005, ran for re-election.[30]

Republican Ted Poe, who had represented Texas's 2nd congressional district since 2005, ran for re-election.[30]

Republican Sam Johnson, who had represented Texas's 3rd congressional district since 1991, ran for re-election[30]

Republican Ralph Hall, who had represented Texas's 4th congressional district since 1981 (as a Democrat from 1981 to 2004), sought re-election.[30]

Republican Jeb Hensarling, who had represented Texas's 5th congressional district since 2003, ran for re-election.[30]

2012 Texas's 6th congressional district election

Nominee Joe Barton Kenneth Sanders Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 145,019 98,053 Percentage 58.0% 39.2%

County results Barton:      50–60%      70–80%

U.S. Representative before election Joe Barton Republican Elected U.S. Representative Joe Barton Republican

Republican Joe Barton, who had represented Texas's 6th congressional district since 1985, ran for re-election.[30][39]

Republican John Culberson, who had represented Texas's 7th congressional district since 2003, ran for re-election.

Republican Kevin Brady, who had represented Texas's 8th congressional district since 1997, ran for re-election.[44]

Democrat Al Green, who had represented Texas's 9th congressional district since 2005, ran for re-election.[32]

Republican Michael McCaul, who had represented Texas's 10th congressional district since 2005, ran for re-election. He did not seek the open U.S. Senate seat.[50]

Republican Mike Conaway, who had represented Texas's 11th congressional district since 2005, ran for re-election.

Republican Kay Granger, who had represented Texas's 12th congressional district since 1997, ran for re-election.[30]

Republican Mac Thornberry, who had represented Texas's 13th congressional district since 1995, sought re-election.

2012 Texas's 14th congressional district election

Nominee Randy Weber Nick Lampson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 131,460 109,697 Percentage 53.5% 44.6%

U.S. Representative before election Ron Paul Republican Elected U.S. Representative Randy Weber Republican

Republican Ron Paul, who had represented Texas's 14th congressional district since 1997 and ran for the Republican 2012 presidential nomination, did not seek re-election to the House of Representatives.[65]

Democrat Rubén Hinojosa, who had represented Texas's 15th congressional district since 1997, ran for re-election.

Democrat Silvestre Reyes, who had represented Texas's 16th congressional district since 1997, ran for re-election.

2012 Texas's 17th congressional district election

Nominee Bill Flores Ben Easton Party Republican Libertarian Popular vote 143,284 35,978 Percentage 79.9% 20.1%

County results Flores:      50–60%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%

U.S. Representative before election Bill Flores Republican Elected U.S. Representative Bill Flores Republican

Republican Bill Flores, who was elected to represent Texas's 17th congressional district in 2011, ran for reelection.

Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee, who had represented Texas's 18th congressional district since 1995, ran for reelection.

Republican Randy Neugebauer, who had represented Texas's 19th congressional district since 2003, ran for reelection.

Democrat Charlie Gonzalez, who had represented Texas's 20th congressional district since 1999, retired rather than run for re-election.

Republican Lamar Smith, who had represented Texas's 21st congressional district since 1987, ran for re-election.

Republican incumbent Pete Olson, who had represented Texas's 22nd congressional district since 2009, ran for re-election.

2012 Texas's 23rd congressional district election

Nominee Pete Gallego Quico Canseco Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 96,676 87,547 Percentage 50.3% 45.6%

County results Gallego:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Canseco:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. Representative before election Quico Canseco Republican Elected U.S. Representative Pete Gallego Democratic

Republican Quico Canseco, who had represented Texas's 23rd congressional district since 2011, ran for re-election.

Republican Kenny Marchant, who had represented Texas's 24th congressional district since 2005, ran for re-election.

2012 Texas's 25th congressional district election

Nominee Roger Williams Elaine Henderson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 154,245 98,827 Percentage 58.4% 37.4%

County results Williams:      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Henderson:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. Representative before election None (New district) Elected U.S. Representative Roger Williams Republican

Democrat Lloyd Doggett, who had represented Texas's 25th congressional district since 2005, had intended to seek re-election in the new 35th district;[106] however the November 2011 interim map would allow him to instead run in the 25th district.[107] In the event he ran in the 35th district as the final version of the 25th was almost entirely a new, and much more Republican leaning seat.

Republican Michael Burgess, who had represented Texas's 26th congressional district since 2003, ran for re-election.

Republican Blake Farenthold, who had represented Texas's 27th congressional district since 2011, ran for re-election in the redrawn 27th district having considered running in the new 34th district.[117]

Democrat Henry Cuellar, who had represented Texas's 28th congressional district since 2005, ran for re-election.

Guadalupe County, a Republican stronghold, was removed from the reconfigured District 28.[123] Cuellar lost four counties and was held to 56 percent of the general election vote in 2010, when he defeated the Republican Bryan Keith Underwood.