Texas's 26th congressional district

Texas's 26th congressional district
Texas's 26th congressional district
	Texas' 26th congressional district - since January 3, 2023.
Representative	Michael C. Burgess; R–Pilot Point
Distribution	93.4% urban; 6.6% rural;
Population (2023)	854,717
Median household; income	$114,063
Ethnicity	56.6% White; 19.2% Hispanic; 9.8% Asian; 8.9% Black; 4.6% Two or more races; 0.9% other;
Cook PVI	R+13

Texas' 26th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives includes rural Cooke County to the north and some of Wise County to the West and includes parts of Denton County, including Flower Mound, Lewisville and parts of Corinth, Carrollton, Little Elm and The Colony.^[5] The current Representative is Michael C. Burgess. The district is best known as the seat of former House Majority Leader Dick Armey.

History

The district was created as a result of the redistricting cycle after the 1980 census, due to the population growth in Texas and Denton County, specifically in its southern sector. Since its creation, the district has been based in Denton County, one of Texas' fastest-growing counties.

Democrat Tom Vandergriff was the first person to represent the district, winning in 1982. Vandergriff narrowly lost to Republican Dick Armey in 1984, and the seat has continuously been held by Republicans ever since. Indeed, since Vandergriff's defeat in 1984, no Democrat has crossed the 40 percent mark. As Denton County has become overwhelmingly Republican in recent years (all but one county officeholder is Republican, as are all members of the Texas Legislature representing the county), the 26th district is considered a "safe seat" for the GOP.

Since the 2010 redistricting, the 26th district has included most of Denton County (except the southeast portion) and a portion of north central Tarrant County.

However, the district has been trending Democratic in recent years. Donald Trump carried it by 14 points in 2020, while Mitt Romney had carried it by 37 in 2012.

After the 2020 census, rapid growth resulted in significant changes in the composition of the district. For the first time since the district's creation, the City of Denton, the county seat of Denton County, will not be a part of the district. It was instead shifted to the Panhandle-based 13th district. The 26th also lost its small share of Frisco. To make up for the loss of population, portions of Wise County and all of Cooke County will become part of the district. Lewisville will become the largest city in the district.

Denton had become increasingly friendly to Democrats in recent years, and voting trends suggested that under the previous map, the 26th could have potentially become competitive. The redrawn 26th, on the other hand, is considered slightly more Republican than its predecessor.^[6]

Election results from presidential races

Year	Office	Result
2000	President	Bush 71 – 27%
2004	President	Bush 65 – 35%
2008	President	McCain 58 – 41%
2012	President	Romney 68 – 31%
2016	President	Trump 60 – 34%
2020	President	Trump 56 – 42%

List of members representing the district

Representative	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history	District location
District established January 3, 1983
Tom Vandergriff (Arlington)	Democratic	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1985	98th	Elected in 1982. Lost re-election.	1983–1985 [data missing]
Dick Armey (Irving)	Republican	January 3, 1985 – January 3, 2003	99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th	Elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Retired.	1985–1993 [data missing]
					1993–1997 Parts of Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant
					1997–2003 Parts of Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant
Michael C. Burgess (Pilot Point)	Republican	January 3, 2003 – present	108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th 117th 118th	Elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. Retiring at end of term.	2003–2005 Denton; parts of Collin and Tarrant
					2005–2013 Parts of Cooke, Denton, and Tarrant
					2013–2023 Parts of Denton and Tarrant^[7]
					2023–present Cooke; parts of Denton, Tarrant, and Wise^[8]
Brandon Gill (elect) (Flower Mound)	Republican	January 3, 2025	119th	Elected in 2024.

Recent election results

2004 election

US House election, 2004: Texas District 26
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Michael Burgess (incumbent)	180,519	65.75	−9.1
	Democratic	Lico Reyes	89,809	32.71	+9.9
	Libertarian	James Gholston	4,211	1.53	+0.1
Majority			90,710	33.0
Turnout			274,539
	Republican hold		Swing	-9.5

2006 election

US House election, 2006: Texas District 26
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Michael Burgess (incumbent)	94,219	60.21	−5.54
	Democratic	Tim Barnwell	58,271	37.23	+4.52
	Libertarian	Rich Haas	3,993	2.55	+1.02
Majority			35,948	22.97
Turnout			156,483
	Republican hold		Swing	-5.03

2008 election

US House election, 2008: Texas District 26
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Michael Burgess (incumbent)	194,849	60.19	−0.02
	Democratic	Ken Leach	117,895	36.42	−0.82
	Libertarian	Stephanie Weiss	11,002	3.40	0.85
Majority			76,954	23.77	+0.8
Turnout			323,746
	Republican hold		Swing	-0.02

2010 election

US House election, 2010: Texas District 26
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Michael Burgess (incumbent)	120,683	67.08	+6.89
	Democratic	Neil Durrance	55,182	30.67	−5.75
	Libertarian	Mark Boler	4,049	2.25	−1.15
Majority			65,501	36.41	+12.64
Turnout			179,914
	Republican hold		Swing	+6.89

2016 election

US House election, 2016: Texas District 26
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Michael Burgess (incumbent)	211,730	66.4	−0.68
	Democratic	Eric Mauck	94,507	29.6	−1.07
	Libertarian	Mark Boler	12,843	4.0	+1.75
Majority			117,223	36.8	+0.39
Turnout			319,080
	Republican hold		Swing	-0.68

2018 election

US House election, 2018: Texas District 26
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Michael Burgess (incumbent)	185,551	59.4	−7.0
	Democratic	Linsey Fagan	121,938	39.0	+9.4
	Libertarian	Mark Boler	5,016	1.6	−2.4
Majority			59,613	20.4	−16.4
Turnout			312,505
	Republican hold		Swing	-7.0

2020 election

US House election, 2020: Texas District 26^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael C. Burgess (incumbent)	261,963	60.6
	Democratic	Carol Iannuzzi	161,009	37.3
	Libertarian	Mark Boler	9,243	2.1
Total votes			432,215	100.0
	Republican hold

2022 election

US House election, 2022: Texas District 26^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Burgess (incumbent)	183,639	69.2
	Libertarian	Mike Kolls	81,384	30.7
Total votes			265,023	100.0
	Republican hold

Historical district boundaries

References

^ "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (State-based)". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on April 2, 2013.
^ "My Congressional District".
^ "My Congressional District".
^ "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. July 12, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
^ Astudillo, Carla; Cai, Mandi; Huang, Kalley (August 30, 2022). "Texas has new political maps. See which districts your home is in". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022.
^ Wegman, Jesse; Winter, Damon (July 13, 2022). "Opinion | Gerrymander, U.S.A." The New York Times.
^ "District Population Analysis with County Subtotals | CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS - PLANC2100" (PDF). Capitol Data Portal. Texas Legislative Council. August 26, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
^ "District Population Analysis with County Subtotals | CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS - PLANC2193" (PDF). Capitol Data Portal. Texas Legislative Council. October 17, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
^ "2020 November 3rd General Election, U.S. Representative District 26". Texas Election Results. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
^ "Texas Election Night Results". Texas Department of State. Retrieved November 17, 2022.

Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

33°11′05″N 97°08′03″W / 33.18472°N 97.13417°W / 33.18472; -97.13417

[1] "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (State-based)". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on April 2, 2013.

[2] "My Congressional District".

[3] "My Congressional District".

[Cook-4] "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. July 12, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2023.

[5] Astudillo, Carla; Cai, Mandi; Huang, Kalley (August 30, 2022). "Texas has new political maps. See which districts your home is in". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022.

[6] Wegman, Jesse; Winter, Damon (July 13, 2022). "Opinion | Gerrymander, U.S.A." The New York Times.

[7] "District Population Analysis with County Subtotals | CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS - PLANC2100" (PDF). Capitol Data Portal. Texas Legislative Council. August 26, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2023.

[8] "District Population Analysis with County Subtotals | CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS - PLANC2193" (PDF). Capitol Data Portal. Texas Legislative Council. October 17, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2023.

[TXgenr-9] "2020 November 3rd General Election, U.S. Representative District 26". Texas Election Results. Retrieved October 4, 2022.

[10] "Texas Election Night Results". Texas Department of State. Retrieved November 17, 2022.

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Texas's 26th congressional district
Texas' 26th congressional district - since January 3, 2023.
Representative	Michael C. Burgess R–Pilot Point
Distribution	93.4% urban^[1] 6.6% rural
Population (2023)	854,717^[2]
Median household income	$114,063^[3]
Ethnicity	56.6% White 19.2% Hispanic 9.8% Asian 8.9% Black 4.6% Two or more races 0.9% other
Cook PVI	R+13^[4]