Texas's 4th congressional district

Texas's 4th congressional district
Texas's 4th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative		John Ratcliffe (R–Heath)
Population (2000)	651,619
Median income	$38,276
Ethnicity	83.0% White, 10.4% Black, 0.6% Asian, 7.9% Hispanic, 0.8% Native American, 0.2% other
Cook PVI	R+21 (2012)

Texas District 4 of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves an area that includes some counties along the Red River north of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, including semi-rural Rockwall County and the large non-urbanized portion of Collin County. It also includes counties in East Texas such as Rains County. As of the 2000 census, District 4 represents 651,620 people who are predominantly Caucasian (80.8%) and middle-class (median family income is US$46,086, compared to $50,046 nationwide).

Texas has had at least four congressional districts since the state was readmitted to the Union after the Civil War. The district's current seat dates from 1903; only four men have represented it since then.

Once a reliably Democratic district, the district swung rapidly into the Republican column as Dallas' suburbs spilled into the western portion of the district. In fact, it has not supported a Democrat for president since 1964. For many years, it was based in Tyler, but a controversial 2003 redistricting orchestrated by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay drew it and neighboring Longview out of District 4 and into neighboring District 1 which made District 1 significantly more Republican. In the process, District 4 was pushed slightly to the north, picking up Texarkana from District 1.

Ralph Hall, the one-time dean of the Texas congressional delegation, represented the district from 1981 to 2015. Originally a Democrat, he became a Republican in 2004. Hall's voting record had been very conservative even by Texas Democratic standards, which served him well as the district abandoned its Democratic roots. By the turn of the century, he was the only elected Democrat above the county level in much of the district. He had been rumored as a party switcher for some time, and many experts believed his district was almost certain to be taken over by a Republican anyway once he retired.

Hall was defeated in the 2014 Republican primary by John Ratcliffe, a former United States Attorney and the former mayor of Heath, near Hall's hometown of Rockwall. No Democrat even filed, though the district is so heavily Republican that any Democratic candidate would have faced nearly impossible odds in any event. Ratcliffe took office in January 2015, becoming only the fourth person to hold the seat.

The district's best-known congressman was Sam Rayburn, the longtime Speaker of the House.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in the fourth district.

Even as late as 1996, Bill Clinton carried 10 of the 16 counties currently in this district; many of those counties were in District 1 at the time.

2012 redistricting

After the 2012 redistricting process, a large portion of Collin County had been removed, and replaced with the portion of Cass County that had been in Texas's 1st congressional district, all of Marion County, and a large portion of Upshur County.^[1]

Election results from recent presidential races

Year	Result
2000	Bush 66 - 34%
2004	Bush 70 - 29%
2008	McCain 69 - 30%

List of representatives

The district was created in 1869, one of two new districts that Texas gained after the 1860 Census, but was not filled due to the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Name	Party	Years	Electoral history
American Civil War/Reconstruction
Edward Degener	Republican	March 31, 1870 – March 3, 1871	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
John Hancock	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875	Redistricted to the 5th district
Roger Q. Mills	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883	Redistricted from the At-large district; Redistricted to the 9th district
David B. Culberson	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1897	Redistricted from the 2nd district
John W. Cranford	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1899	Died
Vacant		March 3, 1899 – March 4, 1899
John Levi Sheppard	Democratic	March 4, 1899 – October 11, 1902	Died
Vacant		October 11, 1902 – November 15, 1902
Morris Sheppard	Democratic	November 15, 1902 – March 3, 1903	Redistricted to the 1st district
Choice B. Randell	Democratic	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1913	Redistricted from the 5th district
Sam Rayburn	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – November 16, 1961	Died
Vacant		November 16, 1961 – January 30, 1962
Ray Roberts	Democratic	January 30, 1962 – January 3, 1981	Retired
Ralph Hall	Democratic	January 3, 1981 – January 5, 2004	First elected in 1980 Changed party in 2004 Lost renomination
	Republican	January 5, 2004 – January 3, 2015
John Ratcliffe	Republican	January 3, 2015 –	First elected in 2014

Recent elections

2004

US House election, 2004: Texas District 4[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ralph Hall	182,866	68.2
	Democratic	Jim Nickerson	81,585	30.4
	Libertarian	Kevin D. Anderson	3,491	1.3
Total votes			267,942	'
	Republican hold

2006

US House election, 2006: Texas District 4[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ralph Hall	106,495	64.43
	Democratic	Glenn Melancon	55,278	33.34
	Libertarian	Kurt G. Helm	3,496	2.11
Total votes			165,269	'
	Republican hold

2008

US House election, 2008: Texas District 4[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ralph Hall	206,906	68.79
	Democratic	Glenn Melancon	88,067	29.28
	Libertarian	Fred Annett	5,771	1.91
Total votes			300,744	'
	Republican hold

2010

US House election, 2010: Texas District 4[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ralph Hall	136,338	73.18
	Democratic	VaLinda Hathcox	40,975	21.99
	Libertarian	Jim D. Prindle	4,729	2.53
	Independent	Shane Shepard	4,224	2.27
Total votes			186,286	'
	Republican hold

Historical district boundaries

2007 - 2013

See also

• List of United States congressional districts

References

1. http://gis1.tlc.state.tx.us/
2. Office of the Secretary of State (November 2, 2004). "Race Summary Report". 1992 - Current Election History. Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
3. Office of the Secretary of State (November 7, 2006). "Race Summary Report". 1992 - Current Election History. Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
4. Office of the Secretary of State (November 4, 2008). "Race Summary Report". 1992 - Current Election History. Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
5. Office of the Secretary of State (November 2, 2010). "Race Summary Report". 1992 - Current Election History. Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved March 26, 2012.

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

Coordinates: 33°18′19″N 95°25′17″W / 33.30528°N 95.42139°W