From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Texas's 23rd congressional district is the largest congressional district in the country (not counting at-large districts), stretching across the southwestern portion of Texas. It is a Latino-majority district and its current Representative is Democrat Ciro Rodriguez.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Demographics 3 Elections from 1967 to 1992 4 Elections from 1992 to 2002 5 2004 election 6 2006 election 7 Representatives 8 References 9 External links

The district runs along the majority of Texas's border with Mexico, just north of the Rio Grande. While it encompasses numerous county seats and a few towns of regional economic importance, the district is predominantly rural, with no major urban area in the district, although it abuts the El Paso suburbs at its western point and the San Antonio suburbs at its eastern point. Its large size is due to its low population density--one of the lowest in the country. It encompasses all of Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. Major economic activities in the district include farming, ranching, oil and mineral extraction, recreation and tourism.

As of the 2000 census, the district contained 651,620 people. Of these, 41% are Anglo, 55.1% Hispanic, 2% Black, and 2.2% other.^[1] The district's population is 74.6% urban.^[2] Per capita Income for the district is $18,692. The district has a 6.5% unemployment rate. Of the employed, 71.8% is private, 19.4% government, and 8.4% self-employed.^[3] Major industries include Retail trade, Education services, Health Care, and Manufacturing. 222,012 households are within the district, with an average of 2.8 persons per household.^[4]

This district was created in 1967, after Wesberry v. Sanders resulted in Texas' previous congressional map being tossed out. Democrats held the district until 1993.

In 1992, the Texas Legislature created the new 28th District out of much of the 23rd's territory. In the process, the legislature left a heavily Republican section of San Antonio in the 23rd. Charging 8-year incumbent Albert Bustamante with neglecting the 23rd's needs, Republican Henry Bonilla won by the largest margin of victory against an incumbent that year, and took his seat in 1993.

Even though the 23rd had a slight Democratic lean, Bonilla has had a very conservative voting record. Largely because of his popularity in San Antonio, he didn't face a credible challenge until 2002, when former Democratic Texas Secretary of State Henry Cuellar came within 2 points of unseating him.

During the 2003 Texas redistricting, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature drew most of Laredo, which had been one of the bases of the 23rd for its entire existence, into the 28th district. In return, Bonilla received several heavily Republican San Antonio suburbs, all but assuring him of a 7th term.

US House election, 2004: Texas District 23
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Henry Bonilla	170,716	69.3	+17.7
	Democratic	Joe Sullivan	72,480	29.4	-17.8
	Libertarian	Nazirite Perez	3,307	1.3	+0.6
Majority			98,236	39.9
Turnout			246,503
	Republican hold		Swing	+17.8

On June 28, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court, in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry ruled that the 23rd District violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The case turned on the fact that the 23rd District was a protected majority-Hispanic district--that is, if the 23rd was ever redrawn in a way to put Hispanics in a minority, a new majority-Hispanic district had to be created. The Court found that the 25th District, despite its Latino majority, was not compact enough to be an acceptable replacement. The Court therefore ruled that the legislature had violated the rights of Hispanic voters.

As a result, on August 4, 2006, a three-judge panel announced replacement district boundaries for the 2006 election in the 23rd district. Due to the 23rd's size, several other districts along the El Paso-San Antonio corridor had to be redrawn as well.

The new 23rd lost many of the heavily Republican areas it inherited in 2003, as well as the rest of Laredo. However, it received a large portion of heavily Democratic south San Antonio. Further, four other districts were affected: the 28th (represented by Democrat Henry Cuellar), 25th (Democrat Lloyd Doggett), 15th (Democrat Ruben Hinojosa) and 21st (Republican Lamar Smith). As a result, on November 7, 2006 (the day of the general election), these five districts held open primaries. If no candidate were to receive as much as 50% of the vote, a runoff election in December would decide the seat.^[5]

In the 23rd, incumbent Bonilla had two significant opponents, both Democrats: Vietnam War veteran Rick Bolanos and former 28th District Congressman Ciro Rodriguez. In the Spring, Bolanos won the now moot 23rd district Democratic primary. Rodriguez lost a primary challenge to Cuellar in the 28th district, which was also vacated, but the redrawing placed Rodriguez' home, along with most of his old base, into the 23rd district. Other candidates in the special election were: retired San Antonio Fire Department district chief Albert Uresti, who is the brother of state Rep. Carlos Uresti; Lukin Gilliland, a rancher and businessman from Alamo Heights; Adrian De Leon, the owner of a truck stop in Carrizo Springs that advertises “the best Bar-B-Q in town”; and August Beltran of San Antonio. Craig T. Stephens, an independent candidate, also filed to run. ^[6]

Rick Bolanos dropped out of the race on October 19, 2006 and endorsed fellow democrat Lukin Gilliland.

On November 7, 2006, Henry Bonilla received significantly more votes than any of his challengers, but did not receive 50% of the votes cast. Though none of the Democratic candidates came close to Bonilla individually, as a whole the six Democratic candidates received slightly more votes than Bonilla, the only Republican candidate. However, neither party received more than 50% of the vote because of a third party candidate.

A runoff election was held on December 12, 2006 between Bonilla and Rodriguez, with Rodriguez the winner. [1]

Precincts Reporting: 100%

US House election, 2006 runoff: Texas District 23
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ciro Rodriguez	38,247	54.32%	+25.1
	Republican	Henry Bonilla (incumbent)	32,165	45.68%	-23.9
Majority			6,082	8.64%
Turnout			68,294
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing	24.5

Representative	Party	Years	District home	Note
District created in 1967
Abraham Kazen, Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1985	Laredo	Lost re-nomination in 1984
Albert G. Bustamante	Democratic	January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1993	San Antonio	Lost general election in 1992
Henry Bonilla	Republican	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2007	San Antonio	Lost runoff election in 2006
Ciro D. Rodriguez	Democrat	January 3, 2007 – Present	San Antonio	Incumbent

• "Court nixes part of Texas political map"
• "Texas redistricting United States Congress"

v • d • e Texas's congressional districts
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 At-Large See also: Texas's past & present Representatives, Senators, and Delegations All U.S. districts - Apportionment - Redistricting - Gerrymandering - Maps