2002 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas

The 2002 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas occurred on November 5, 2002, to elect the members of the state of Texas's delegation to the United States House of Representatives. Texas had thirty-two seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. The state gained two seats in reapportionment.^[1] Democrats narrowly maintained control of the Texas House of Representatives after the 2000 election after heavily emphasizing it as necessary to protect the party from a potential Republican gerrymander.^[2][3] During the 2001 regular session, the divided legislature failed to pass any redistricting plans.^[4] Congressional redistricting fell to the courts in Balderas v. State of Texas after no special session was called to address redistricting.^[5][6] While the court's initial map appeared to benefit Republicans,^[7] the final maps ordered for the 2002 elections were seen as beneficial to Democrats.^[8][9][10]

2002 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas

← 2000 November 5, 2002 2004 →
All 32 Texas seats to the United States House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 17 13 Seats won 17 15 Seat change 2 Popular vote 1,885,178 2,290,723 Percentage 43.9% 53.3% Swing 2.9% 4.6%
District results County results Democratic   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90>% Republican   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90>% Tie   40–50%

These elections occurred simultaneously with the United States Senate elections of 2002, the United States House elections in other states, and various state and local elections. Democrats managed to maintain their majority of seats in Texas' congressional delegation despite the fact that Republicans won more votes statewide.^[11] As of 2025, this is the last time the Democratic Party won a majority of congressional districts from Texas.

Texas was one of six states in which the party that won the state's popular vote did not win a majority of seats in 2002, the other states being Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, and Tennessee.

Overview

2002 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas[12]
Party		Votes	Percentage	Seats before	Seats after	+/–
	Republican	2,290,723	53.33%	13	15	+2
	Democratic	1,885,178	43.89%	17	17	0
	Libertarian	107,141	2.49%	0	0	0
	Green	10,394	0.24%	0	0	0
	Independent	1,774	0.04%	0	0	0
Totals		4,295,210	100.00%	30	32	+2

District 1

2002 Texas's 1st congressional district election

← 2000 2004 →

Nominee Max Sandlin John Lawrence Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 86,384 66,654 Percentage 56.45% 43.55%

County results Sandlin:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Lawrence:      50–60%

U.S. Representative before election Max Sandlin Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Max Sandlin Democratic

See also: Texas's 1st congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Max Sandlin successfully ran for re-election, defeating Republican John Lawrence. As of 2024 this is the last time a Democrat was elected to this seat, as well as the last time the Democratic candidate got over 40% of the vote.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 1st congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Max Sandlin (incumbent)	86,384	56.45
	Republican	John Lawrence	66,654	43.55
Total votes			153,038	100
	Democratic hold

District 2

See also: Texas's 2nd congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Jim Turner ran for re-election.

2002 Texas's 2nd congressional district election

← 2000 2004 →

Nominee Jim Turner Donna Peterson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 85,492 53,656 Percentage 60.85% 38.19%

County results Turner:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Peterson:      60–70%

U.S. Representative before election Charlie Wilson Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Charlie Wilson Democratic

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 2nd congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Turner (incumbent)	85,492	60.85
	Republican	Van Brookshire	53,656	38.19
	Libertarian	Peter Beach	1,353	0.96
Total votes			140,501	100
	Democratic hold

District 3

See also: Texas's 3rd congressional district

Incumbent Republican Sam Johnson ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 3rd congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Johnson (incumbent)	113,974	73.95
	Democratic	Manny Molera	37,503	24.33
	Libertarian	John Davis	2,656	1.72
Total votes			154,133	100
	Republican hold

District 4

2002 Texas' 4th congressional district election

← 2000 2004 →

Nominee Ralph Hall John Graves Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 97,304 67,939 Percentage 57.8% 40.4%

County results Hall:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Graves:      50–60%

U.S. Representative before election Ralph Hall Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Ralph Hall Democratic

See also: Texas's 4th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Ralph Hall successfully ran for re-election. This was the last time Hall ran as a Democrat, as he switched to the Republican Party in early 2004. As such, this is the last time a Democrat was elected to this seat.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 4th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ralph M. Hall (incumbent)	97,304	57.82
	Republican	John Graves	67,939	40.37
	Libertarian	Barbara Robinson	3,042	1.81
Total votes			168,285	100
	Democratic hold

District 5

See also: Texas's 5th congressional district

Incumbent Republican Pete Sessions was redistricted to the newly created 32nd District. He ran for re-election there.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Lean R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 5th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeb Hensarling	81,439	58.21
	Democratic	Ron Chapman	56,330	40.26
	Libertarian	Dan Michalski	1,283	0.92
	Green	Thomas Kemper	856	0.61
Total votes			139,908	100
	Republican win (new seat)

District 6

See also: Texas's 6th congressional district

Incumbent Republican Joe Barton ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 6th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joe Barton (incumbent)	115,396	70.35
	Democratic	Felix Alvarado	45,404	27.68
	Libertarian	Frank Brady	1,992	1.21
	Green	B.J. Armstrong	1,245	0.76
Total votes			164,037	100
	Republican hold

District 7

See also: Texas's 7th congressional district

Incumbent Republican John Culberson ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 7th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Culberson (incumbent)	96,795	89.19
	Libertarian	Drew Parks	11,674	10.76
	Write-in	John Skone-Palmer	58	0.05
Total votes			108,527	100
	Republican hold

District 8

See also: Texas's 8th congressional district

Incumbent Republican Kevin Brady ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 8th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kevin Brady (incumbent)	140,575	93.14
	Libertarian	Gil Guillory	10,351	6.86
Total votes			150,926	100
	Republican hold

District 9

See also: Texas's 9th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Nick Lampson ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 9th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nick Lampson (incumbent)	86,710	58.60
	Republican	Paul Williams	59,635	40.31
	Libertarian	Dean Tucker	1,613	1.09
Total votes			147,958	100
	Democratic hold

District 10

See also: Texas's 10th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Lloyd Doggett ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 10th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lloyd Doggett (incumbent)	114,428	84.37
	Libertarian	Michele Messina	21,196	15.63
Total votes			135,624	100
	Democratic hold

District 11

2002 Texas's 11th congressional district election

← 2000 2004 →

Nominee Chet Edwards Ramsey Farley Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 74,678 68,236 Percentage 51.6% 47.1%

County results Farley:      50–60%      60–70% Taylor:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. Representative before election Chet Edwards Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Chet Edwards Democratic

See also: Texas's 11th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Chet Edwards ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 11th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chet Edwards (incumbent)	74,678	51.55
	Republican	Ramsey Farley	68,236	47.11
	Libertarian	Andrew Farris	1,943	1.34
Total votes			144,857	100
	Democratic hold

District 12

See also: Texas's 12th congressional district

Incumbent Republican Kay Granger ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 12th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kay Granger (incumbent)	121,208	91.87
	Libertarian	Edward Hanson	10,723	8.13
Total votes			131,931	100
	Republican hold

District 13

2002 Texas's 13th congressional district election

← 2000 2004 →

Nominee Mac Thornberry Zane Reese Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 119,401 31,218 Percentage 79.3% 20.7%

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

U.S. Representative before election Mac Thornberry Republican Elected U.S. Representative Mac Thornberry Republican

See also: Texas's 13th congressional district

Incumbent Republican Mac Thornberry ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 13th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mac Thornberry (incumbent)	119,401	79.27
	Democratic	Zane Reese	31,218	20.73
Total votes			150,619	100
	Republican hold

District 14

See also: Texas's 14th congressional district

Incumbent Republican Ron Paul ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 14th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ron Paul (incumbent)	102,905	68.09
	Democratic	Corby Windham	48,224	31.91
Total votes			151,129	100
	Republican hold

District 15

See also: Texas's 15th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Ruben Hinojosa ran for re-election unopposed.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 15th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ruben Hinojosa (incumbent)	66,311	100.00
Total votes			66,311	100
	Democratic hold

District 16

See also: Texas's 16th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Silvestre Reyes ran for re-election unopposed.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 16th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Silvestre Reyes (incumbent)	72,383	100.00
Total votes			72,383	100
	Democratic hold

District 17

2002 Texas's 17th congressional district election

← 2000 2004 →

Nominee Charles Stenholm Rob Beckham Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 84,136 77,622 Percentage 51.4% 47.4%

County results Stenholm:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Beckham:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. Representative before election Charles Stenholm Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Charles Stenholm Democratic

See also: Texas's 17th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Charles Stenholm ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 17th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charles Stenholm (incumbent)	84,136	51.36
	Republican	Rob Beckham	77,622	47.39
	Libertarian	Fred Jones	2,046	1.25
Total votes			163,804	100
	Democratic hold

District 18

See also: Texas's 18th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 18th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sheila Jackson Lee (incumbent)	99,161	76.91
	Republican	Phillip Abbott	27,980	21.70
	Libertarian	Brent Sullivan	1,785	1.38
Total votes			128,926	100
	Democratic hold

District 19

See also: Texas's 19th congressional district

Incumbent Republican Larry Combest ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 19th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Larry Combest (incumbent)	117,092	91.64
	Libertarian	Larry Johnson	10,684	8.36
Total votes			127,776	100
	Republican hold

District 20

See also: Texas's 20th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Charlie Gonzalez ran for re-election unopposed.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 20th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charlie Gonzalez (incumbent)	68,685	100.00
Total votes			68,685	100
	Democratic hold

District 21

See also: Texas's 21st congressional district

Incumbent Republican Lamar Smith ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 21st congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lamar Smith (incumbent)	161,836	72.87
	Democratic	John Courage	56,206	25.31
	Libertarian	DG Roberts	4,051	1.82
Total votes			222,093	100
	Republican hold

District 22

See also: Texas's 22nd congressional district

Incumbent Republican Tom DeLay ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 22nd congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom DeLay (incumbent)	100,499	63.17
	Democratic	Tim Riley	55,716	35.02
	Libertarian	Jerry LaFleur	1,612	1.01
	Green	Joel West	1,257	0.79
Total votes			159,084	100
	Republican hold

District 23

2002 Texas's 23rd congressional district election

← 2000 2004 →

Nominee Henry Bonilla Henry Cuellar Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 77,573 71,067 Percentage 51.5% 47.2%

County results Bonilla:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Cuellar:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

U.S. Representative before election Henry Bonilla Republican Elected U.S. Representative Henry Bonilla Republican

See also: Texas's 23rd congressional district

Incumbent Republican Henry Bonilla ran for re-election, defeating former Texas Secretary of State Henry Cuellar.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Lean R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 23rd congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Henry Bonilla (incumbent)	77,573	51.53
	Democratic	Henry Cuellar	71,067	47.20
	Libertarian	Jeffrey Blunt	1,106	0.73
	Green	Ed Scharf	806	0.54
Total votes			150,552	100
	Republican hold

District 24

See also: Texas's 24th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Martin Frost ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 24th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Martin Frost (incumbent)	73,002	64.66
	Republican	Mike Ortega	38,332	33.95
	Libertarian	Ken Ashby	1,560	1.38
Total votes			112,894	100
	Democratic hold

District 25

See also: Texas's 25th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Ken Bentsen retired to run for US Senate.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 25th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chris Bell	63,590	54.76
	Republican	Tom Reiser	50,041	43.09
	Green	George Reiter	1,399	1.20
	Libertarian	Guy McLendon	1,096	0.94
Total votes			116,126	100
	Democratic hold

District 26

See also: Texas's 26th congressional district

Incumbent Republican Dick Armey opted to retire rather than run for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 26th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Burgess	123,195	74.81
	Democratic	Paul William LeBon	37,485	22.76
	Libertarian	David Croft	2,367	1.44
	Green	Gary Page	1,631	0.99
Total votes			164,678	100
	Republican hold

District 27

See also: Texas's 27th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Solomon Ortiz ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 27th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Solomon Ortiz (incumbent)	68,559	61.10
	Republican	Pat Ahumada	41,004	36.54
	Libertarian	Christopher Claytor	2,646	2.36
Total votes			112,209	100
	Democratic hold

District 28

See also: Texas's 28th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Ciro Rodriquez ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 28th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ciro Rodriguez (incumbent)	71,393	71.09
	Republican	Gabriel Perales Jr.	26,973	26.86
	Libertarian	Bill Stallknecht	2,054	2.05
Total votes			100,420	100
	Democratic hold

District 29

See also: Texas's 29th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Gene Green ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 29th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Gene Green (incumbent)	55,760	95.16
	Libertarian	Paul Hansen	2,833	4.84
Total votes			58,593	100
	Democratic hold

District 30

See also: Texas's 30th congressional district

Incumbent Democrat Eddie Bernice Johnson ran for re-election.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe D	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe D	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 30th congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eddie Bernice Johnson (incumbent)	88,980	74.26
	Republican	Ron Bush	28,981	24.19
	Libertarian	Lance Flores	1,856	1.55
Total votes			119,817	100
	Democratic hold

District 31

See also: Texas's 31st congressional district

District 31 was created as a result of redistricting after the 2000 census.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R (flip)	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R (flip)	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 31st congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Carter	111,556	69.08
	Democratic	David Bagley	44,183	27.36
	Libertarian	Clark Simmons	2,037	1.26
	Green	John Petersen	1,992	1.23
	Independent	R.C. Crawford	1,716	1.06
Total votes			161,484	100
	Republican win (new seat)

District 32

See also: Texas's 32nd congressional district

District 32 was created as a result of redistricting after the 2000 census. Republican Pete Sessions was redistricted here from the 5th District.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[13]	Safe R (flip)	November 4, 2002
New York Times[14]	Safe R (flip)	October 14, 2002

Results

Texas's 32nd congressional district, 2002^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pete Sessions (incumbent)	100,226	67.77
	Democratic	Pauline Dixon	44,886	30.35
	Libertarian	Steve Martin	1,582	1.07
	Green	Carla Hubbell	1,208	0.82
Total votes			147,902	100
	Republican hold

See also

• 2002 United States House of Representatives elections