Texas's 21st congressional district

Coordinates: 30°03′28″N 98°58′31″W / 30.05778°N 98.97528°W / 30.05778; -98.97528
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Texas's 21st congressional district
Texas's 21st congressional district since January 3, 2023
Representative
  Chip Roy
RAustin
Distribution
  • 78.15% urban[1]
  • 21.85% rural
Population (2022)807,859[2]
Median household
income
$88,786[2]
Ethnicity
Cook PVIR+13[3]

Texas's 21st congressional district of the United States House of Representatives serves the area north of San Antonio and a significant portion of Austin in the state of Texas. Towns entirely or partially in this district include Boerne, Fredericksburg, Ingram, Kerrville, Kyle, New Braunfels, and San Marcos. The current Representative from the 21st district is Chip Roy.

Election results from statewide races[edit]

Year U.S. President U.S. Senator Governor
2000 Bush (R) 74 - 24% [Data unknown/missing]
2004 Bush (R) 66 – 34%
2008 McCain (R): 56 – 42% [Data unknown/missing]
2012 Romney (R): 59.8 – 37.9% Cruz (R): 58 – 37%
2016 Trump (R): 52.5 – 42.5%
2018 Cruz (R): 49.6 – 49.5% Abbott (R): 55 – 43%
2020 Trump (R): 51 – 48% [Data unknown/missing]

List of members representing the district[edit]

Member Party Years Cong
ress
Electoral history
District established January 3, 1935
Charles L. South
(Coleman)
Democratic January 3, 1935 –
January 3, 1943
74th
75th
76th
77th
Elected in 1934.
Re-elected in 1936.
Re-elected in 1938.
Re-elected in 1940.
[data missing]

O. C. Fisher
(San Angelo)
Democratic January 3, 1943 –
December 31, 1974
78th
79th
80th
81st
82nd
83rd
84th
85th
86th
87th
88th
89th
90th
91st
92nd
93rd
Elected in 1942.
Re-elected in 1944.
Re-elected in 1946.
Re-elected in 1948.
Re-elected in 1950.
Re-elected in 1952.
Re-elected in 1954.
Re-elected in 1956.
Re-elected in 1958.
Re-elected in 1960.
Re-elected in 1962.
Re-elected in 1964.
Re-elected in 1966.
Re-elected in 1968.
Re-elected in 1970.
Re-elected in 1972.
Retired.
Vacant December 31, 1974 –
January 3, 1975
93rd

Bob Krueger
(New Braunfels)
Democratic January 3, 1975 –
January 3, 1979
94th
95th
Elected in 1974.
Re-elected in 1976.
Retired to run for U.S. Senator.

Tom Loeffler
(Hunt)
Republican January 3, 1979 –
January 3, 1987
96th
97th
98th
99th
Elected in 1978.
Re-elected in 1980.
Re-elected in 1982.
Re-elected in 1984.
[data missing]

Lamar Smith
(San Antonio)
Republican January 3, 1987 –
January 3, 2019
100th
101st
102nd
103rd
104th
105th
106th
107th
108th
109th
110th
111th
112th
113th
114th
115th
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.
Re-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.
Retired.

Chip Roy
(Austin)
Republican January 3, 2019 –
present
116th
117th
118th
Elected in 2018.
Re-elected in 2020.
Re-elected in 2022.

Recent election results[edit]

2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, District 21
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Lamar Smith (incumbent) 209,774 61.5% -11.4%
Democratic Rhett Smith 121,129 35.5% +10.2%
Libertarian Jason Pratt 10,216 3.0% +1.1%
Majority 88,645 26.0%
Turnout 341,119
Republican hold Swing -10.8%

2006[edit]

In the case of League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, 548 U. S. 399 (2006), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the configuration of Texas' 15th, 21st, 23rd, 25th and 28th congressional districts as drawn by the Texas Legislature violated the National Voting Rights Act of 1965. Replacement district boundaries for the 2006 election were subsequently issued for the five districts by the local federal district court, and on election day in November, these five districts had open primaries, with candidates being elected for receiving over 50 percent of the vote. Runoff elections were held in December to decide elections in which no candidate gained an absolute majority in November.[4]

In the 2006 election, Lamar Smith defeated veteran and college administrator John Courage with 60% of the vote.

2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, District 21
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Lamar Smith (incumbent) 122,486 60.1% -1.4%
Democratic John Courage 49,957 24.51% -10.99%
Democratic Gene Kelly 18,355 9%
Independent Tommy Ray Calvert Jr 5,280 2.59%
Libertarian James Arthur Strohm 4,076 2.0% -1.0%
Independent James Lyle Peterson 2,189 1.07%
Independent Mark J. Rossano 1,439 0.7%
Majority
Turnout 203,782
Republican hold Swing

2008[edit]

2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, District 21
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Lamar Smith (incumbent) 243,471 79.99% +19.89%
Libertarian James Arthur Strohm 60,879 20% +18%
Majority 182,592
Turnout 304,350
Republican hold Swing

2010[edit]

In the 2010 election, Lamar Smith defeated Lainey Melnick with 68.9 percent of the vote. Melnick, an Austin real estate broker, officially filed papers with the Federal Election Commission on June 23, 2009 to become a candidate.

2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, District 21
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Lamar Smith (incumbent) 169,924 68.9 -11.09%
Democratic Lainey Melnick 65,834 27.9 +3.39%
Libertarian James Arthur Strohm 7,687 3.3 -16.7%
Majority 96929
Turnout 236,284
Republican hold Swing

2012[edit]

Incumbent Lamar Smith faced five challengers in the 2012 general election on November 6, 2012: Candace Duval (Dem), John-Henry Liberty (Lib), Fidel Castillo (Grn), Bill Stout (Grn), and Carlos Pena (Ind). [5]

2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, District 21
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lamar Smith (Incumbent) 187,015 60.5
Democratic Candace E. Duval 109,326 35.4
Libertarian John-Henry Liberty 12,524 4.0
Total votes 308,865 100.0
Republican hold

2014[edit]

2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, District 21
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lamar Smith (Incumbent) 135,513 71.8
Libertarian Ryan Shields 25,483 13.5
Green Antonio Diaz 27,782 14.7
Total votes 188,778 100.0
Republican hold

2016[edit]

2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, District 21
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lamar Smith (Incumbent) 202,523 57.0
Democratic Tom Wakely 129,253 36.4
Libertarian Mark Loewe 14,698 4.1
Green Tony Diaz 8,520 2.4
Total votes 354,994 100.0
Republican hold

2018[edit]

Lamar Smith did not run for reelection in 2018.[6]

On the Republican side, 18 candidates competed in the March 6 primary, in which no one received a majority. The first- and second-place finishers were, respectively, attorney Chip Roy, who served as chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and senior advisor to Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R),[7] and Matt McCall, owner of a business providing human tissue for American military hospitals. Roy and McCall advanced to a May 22 runoff, which Roy won with 52.7% of the vote.[8]

On the Democratic side, four candidates ran to replace Smith: Joseph Kopser, entrepreneur and Army veteran; Derrick Crowe, activist; Elliott McFadden, executive director of Austin B-cycle; and Mary Street Wilson, pastor.[9] No one received a majority in the March 6 primary,[10] so the top two finishers, Wilson and Kopser, advanced to a runoff on May 22. Kopser flipped the primary result in the runoff against Wilson, winning the nomination with 58% of the vote.[11]

2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, District 21
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Chip Roy 176,913 50.3
Democratic Joseph Kopser 167,020 47.5
Libertarian Lee Santos 7,497 2.1
Total votes 351,430 100.0
Republican hold

2020[edit]

The incumbent, Chip Roy, was unopposed for the Republican nomination. Former state Senator Wendy Davis won the Democratic primary runoff.[12] Tom Wakely was nominated by the Green Party caucus. The state Supreme Court allowed his inclusion after Wendy Davis tried unsuccessfully to have him removed from the ballot.[13] Perennial candidate Arthur DiBianca was the Libertarian nominee;[14] a last-minute lawsuit by Republicans to block DiBianca and 43 other Libertarian Party candidates from the ballot failed.[15][16]

Primary results[edit]

Democratic primary results [12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Wendy Davis 84,593 86.3
Democratic Jennie Lou Leeder 13,485 13.7
Total votes 98,078 100.0

General election[edit]

Texas's 21st congressional district, 2020[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Chip Roy (incumbent) 235,740 52.0
Democratic Wendy Davis 205,780 45.3
Libertarian Arthur DiBlanca 8,666 1.9
Green Tom Wakely 3,564 0.8
Total votes 453,750 100.0
Republican hold

2022[edit]

2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, District 21
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Chip Roy (incumbent) 207,426 62.8
Democratic Claudia Zapata 122,655 37.1
Total votes 330,081 100.0
Republican hold

Historical district boundaries[edit]

2005–2007
2007–2013
2013–2023

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (State-based)". www.census.gov. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "My Congressional District". www.census.gov. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  3. ^ "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  4. ^ Austin American-Statesman accessed 4 August 2006; link broken 18 October 2006
  5. ^ "Texas' 21st Congressional District elections, 2012". ballotpedia.org. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  6. ^ Dixon, Darius (November 2, 2017). "Lamar Smith won't seek reelection to House". Politico. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  7. ^ Alberta, Tim (October 23, 2018). "Meet the Next Ted Cruz". Politico.
  8. ^ Price, Asher (May 23, 2018). "Joseph Kopser to face Chip Roy in 21st Congressional District matchup". Statesman. USA Today Network.
  9. ^ "Who's on the Texas primary ballots in 2018?". apps.texastribune.org. January 24, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  10. ^ "Important 2018 Election dates". www.sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  11. ^ "Texas Primary Runoff Election Results: 21st House District". The New York Times. May 29, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  12. ^ a b "The latest fundraising ahead of the next huge primary night". Politico. June 12, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  13. ^ Texas court allows Green Party candidates on the ballot , Express News, Gilbert Garcia, August 21, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  14. ^ Arthur DiBianca, Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 28, 2020,
  15. ^ Sami Sparber, Texas Supreme Court rejects Republicans' attempt to remove 44 Libertarians from the November ballot, Texas Tribune (September 5, 2020).
  16. ^ In re Texas House Republican Caucus PAC, 630 S.W.3d 28 (Tex. 2020).
  17. ^ "Texas Election Results - Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved November 26, 2020.

30°03′28″N 98°58′31″W / 30.05778°N 98.97528°W / 30.05778; -98.97528