Texas's 22nd congressional district
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| Texas's 22nd congressional district | |
|---|---|
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| Population (2000) | 651,619 |
| Median income | $57,932 |
| Ethnic composition | 71.3% White, 9.4% Black, 8.0% Asian, 20.3% Hispanic, 0.4% Native American, 0.6% other |
| Cook PVI | R+15 |
Texas District 22 of the United States House of Representatives is the Congressional district that covers a south-central portion of the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area. It includes the cities of Rosenberg and La Marque as well as portions of Missouri City and Pearland, in Fort Bend, Harris, Galveston, and Brazoria counties. 52% of poll respondents identified themselves as Republicans, 32% as Democrats, and 16% as independents.[1]
The district is represented by Democrat Nick Lampson.
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[edit] Recent elections
[edit] 1974
Incumbent Democrat Robert R. Casey defeated ob/gyn Ron Paul, a delegate to the Texas Republican convention; Democrats won 1974 heavily.
[edit] 1976 special
When President Gerald Ford appointed Casey to head the Federal Maritime Commission, Paul won a 1976 special election to fill the empty seat, against Democrat Robert Gammage; Paul was sworn in on April 3. Paul had decided to enter politics on August 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon closed the "gold window" by implementing the U.S. dollar's complete departure from the gold standard, saying later, "After that day, all money would be political money rather than money of real value. I was astounded."[2]
Paul was the first Republican representative from the area for some time; he also led the Texas Reagan delegation at the national Republican convention.[3] His successful campaign against Gammage surprised local Democrats, who had expected to retain the seat easily in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Gammage underestimated Paul's support among local mothers: "I had real difficulty down in Brazoria County, where he practiced, because he'd delivered half the babies in the county. There were only two obstetricians in the county, and the other one was his partner."[4]
[edit] 1976 general
Gammage defeated Paul some months later in the general election, by fewer than 300 votes (0.2%).
[edit] 1978
Paul defeated Gammage in a 1978 rematch.
[edit] 1980
Paul won a new term in 1980.
[edit] 1982
Paul won a new term in 1982.
[edit] 1984
In 1984, Paul chose to run for the U.S. Senate instead of re-election to the House.[5] He was succeeded by former state representative Tom DeLay.[6]
[edit] 2004
| U.S. House election, 2004: Texas District 22 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Republican | Tom DeLay | 150,386 | 55.2 | -8.0 | |
| Democratic | Richard Morrison | 112,034 | 41.1 | +6.0 | |
| Independent | Michael Fjetland | 5,314 | 1.9 | +1.9 | |
| Libertarian | Tom Morrison | 4,886 | 1.8 | +0.8 | |
| Majority | 38,352 | 14.1 | |||
| Turnout | 272,620 | ||||
| Republican hold | Swing | -7.0 | |||
[edit] 2006 special
On January 2, 2006, Nick Lampson, a Jefferson County tax assessor-collector, filed to challenge incumbent Tom DeLay for the 2006 general election, as a Democrat. Lampson had represented the adjacent ninth district until DeLay engineered the 2003 Texas redistricting, after which Lampson lost his seat to Republican Ted Poe in 2004.
DeLay won the Republican primary on March 7, 2006, taking 62% of the vote in the four-way race.[7] It was DeLay's weakest showing in a primary election, which prompted questions about whether he could win the general election. On April 3, 2006, three days after former aide Tony Rudy pleaded guilty to various charges of corruption relating to the Jack Abramoff scandal, DeLay announced that he would withdraw from the race and not run for re-election.[8][9]
Under Texas law, however, the Republican Party could not legally name another candidate for the 2006 general election. DeLay announced on August 8, 2006 that he would withdraw in order to allow the party to organize a campaign for a write-in candidate. Texas Governor Rick Perry announced on August 29, 2006 that a special election would take place for the remainder of DeLay's term (November 2006 to January 2007).
The Texas Republican Party supported Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs as their write-in candidate.[10] Lampson chose not to run in the special election. Sekula-Gibbs won and was sworn in on November 13, 2006. She represented the district for the remaining few weeks of the 109th United States Congress. Sekula-Gibbs promised to fix health care, taxes, and immigration.
[edit] 2006 general
Due to DeLay's late announcement, no Republican was listed on the ballot for the two-year term that began in January 2007.[11]
The special election was held concurrently with the general election on November 7, 2006. Voters cast votes twice on that date, once for the special election, once for the general election. This arrangement ensured that Sekula-Gibbs's name appeared on a November 7 ballot.
Lampson won the general election, and was sworn in on January 4, 2007.
| U.S. House election, 2006: Texas District 22[12] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Nick Lampson | 71,122 | 50.8 | +9.7 | |
| Republican | Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (write-in) | 59,914 | 42.8 | -12.4 | |
| Libertarian | Bob Smither | 8,482 | 6.1 | +4.2 | |
| Republican | Don Richardson (write-in) | 408 | 0.3 | ||
| Independent | Joe Reasbeck (write-in) | 86 | 0.1 | ||
| Majority | 11,208 | 8.0 | -6.1 | ||
| Turnout | 140,012 | ||||
| Democratic gain from Republican | Swing | ||||
[edit] 2008
In addition to Sekula-Gibbs, the following candidates ran in the Republican primary:
- Pete Olson, who won the primary. Former Navy pilot and former Senate liaison officer. Assistant to Phil Gramm. Chief of staff for Senator John Cornyn from 2002 to 2007.
- Kevyn Bazzy, Army Reservist. Graduate of the University of Houston who served in Iraq as a civilian intelligence officer for U.S. Central Command in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
- Cynthia Dunbar, graduate of Regent University School of Law, former director of governmental affairs for Fort Bend County Precinct 3, and member of the Texas State Board of Education District 10.[13]
- Dean Hrbacek, former councilman and mayor of Sugar Land. A business attorney, board certified in tax law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and a Certified Public Accountant.
- Brian Klock, naval reserve commander. President of the Greater Houston Council of the Navy League and former president of the Military Officers Association of America, Houston Chapter. Formerly financial advisor with Merrill Lynch. Twice deployed to the Balkans in support of Naval and Marine forces, and recalled to duty after the September 11, 2001, attacks to support U.S. forces in Operation Enduring Freedom.
- John Manlove, former councilman and mayor of Pasadena, who resigned to run for Congress. Businessman and former missionary to Latin America.
- Ryan Rowley, computer professional, NASA and Department of Defense contractor, oil industry consultant, and military veteran.
- James D. Squier, Harris County Family District Court Judge for 20 years.
- Robert Talton, state representative since 1992. Former police officer, prosecutor, city attorney, municipal court judge, and attorney in private practice.
Olson and incumbent Lampson are faced in the scheduled 2008 election by John Wieder, Libertarian, Vietnam veteran, retired businessman, and community volunteer.
[edit] References
- ^ Meck, Kristen. "Write-in for DeLay spot has a shot", Houston Chronicle, 2006-10-30.
- ^ Gwynne, Sam C. (2001-10-01). Dr. No. Texas Monthly. Retrieved on 2007-10-23.
- ^ The Ron Paul Story (YouTube). Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
- ^ Goodwyn, Wade. "Paul Has Long Drawn Support from Unlikely Places", the '08 Candidates' First Campaign, National Public Radio, 2007-10-07. Retrieved on 2007-10-23.
- ^ Rudin, Ken. "Ron Paul, George and Ringo", Political Junkie, National Public Radio, 2007-07-26. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- ^ Members and leaders of the Texas Legislature. Legislative Reference Library of Texas. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
- ^ 2006 Republican Party Primary Election. Texas Secretary of State.
- ^ Aulds, T.J. "Tom DeLay to step down", Galveston County Daily News, 2006-04-04.
- ^ Bash, Dana. "Sources: DeLay to leave House re-election race", CNN, 2006-04-03. Retrieved on 2006-04-19.
- ^ Lozano, Juan A. "Texas GOP Back Houston Councilwoman: Texas Republicans back Houston councilwoman as write-in nominee over DeLay", CBS News, 2006-08-18. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
- ^ Races with Candidates with Addresses Report: 2006 General Election (PDF). Texas Secretary of State (2006-11-07). Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
- ^ 2006 General November Elections: Unofficial Election Results. Texas Secretary of State (2006-11-08).
- ^ Biography of Cynthia Dunbar.
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