Texas's 4th congressional district
Template:Short description Template:Disambig-acronym Template:Distinguish Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. congressional district Texas's 4th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in an area of Northeast Texas, that includes some counties along the Red River northeast of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, as well as some outer eastern suburbs of the Metroplex. Austin College in Sherman, Texas is located within the district. As of 2017, the 4th district represents 747,188 people who are predominantly white (80.8%) and middle-class (median family income is US$56,062, compared to $50,046 nationwide).<ref name=mycd/> It is currently represented by Pat Fallon.
Composition
For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:<ref>https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST48/CD118_TX04.pdf</ref>
Bowie County (2)
Collin County (6)
- Celina (part; also 3rd and 26th), Dallas (part; also 3rd, 5th, 6th, 24th, 30th, 32nd, and 33rd; shared with Dallas, Denton, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties), Frisco (part; also 3rd and 26th; shared with Denton County), Hebron (part; also 26th; shared with Denton County), Plano (part; also 3rd, 26th, and 32nd; shared with Denton County), Prosper (part; also 3rd and 26th, shared with Denton County), McKinney (part; also 3rd),
Delta County (2)
Denton County (1)
Fannin County (13)
- All 13 communities
Grayson County (19)
- All 19 communities
Hopkins County (4)
- All 4 communities
Hunt County (3)
- Hawk Cove, Quinlan (part; also 3rd), West Tawakoni
Lamar County (10)
- All 10 communities
Rains County (4)
- All 4 communities
Red River County (0)
- No incorporated or census-recognized communities
Rockwall County (10)
- All 10 communities
History
Texas has had at least four congressional districts since the State's senators and representatives were re-seated in Congress after the Civil War.<ref name="Cornell Law School">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The district's current configuration is dated from 1903. It has traditionally given its congressmen very long tenures in Washington; only six men have represented it since then.
Once a reliably Democratic district, the district swung rapidly into the Republican column at the federal level as Dallas' suburbs spilled into the western portion of the district. In fact, it has not supported a Democrat for president since 1964. However, as late as 1996, Bill Clinton carried ten of the sixteen counties that are currently in this district; many of those counties were in the 1st district at the time. Additionally, conservative Democrats continued to hold most of the district's local offices well into the 2000s.
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 the 4th district and into neighboring 1st, which made it significantly more Republican. In the process, the 4th district was pushed slightly to the north, picking up Texarkana from the 1st district.
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 he would almost certainly be succeeded by a Republican once he retired. Template:Citation needed
In 2014, Hall was defeated in the Republican primary by John Ratcliffe, who had served as the former United States Attorney for much of the 4th's territory, and was additionally the former mayor of Heath—a city coincidentally located near Hall's hometown of Rockwall. No Democrat even filed, though by this time, the district had become so heavily Republican that any Democratic candidate would have faced nearly impossible odds in any event. Underlining just how Republican this district was, the Democrats have only managed as much as 30% of the vote once since Hall's party switch.
In January 2015, Ratcliffe took office, and became only the fifth person to hold the seat. Template:Citation needed He ran unopposed for reelection in 2016, and defeated a nominal Democratic challenger in 2018. Template:Citation needed
In May 2020, Ratcliffe resigned his seat ahead of his swearing-in to become the 6th Director of National Intelligence.<ref name="dallasnews.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The district's best-known congressman was Sam Rayburn, the longtime Speaker of the House. Template:Citation needed
President Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in the fourth district. Template:Citation needed
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.<ref name="district-viewer">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Recent election results from statewide races
2023–2027 boundaries
2027–2033 boundaries
List of members representing the district
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Recent elections
2004
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2006
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2008
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2010
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2012
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2014
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2016
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2018
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2020
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2022
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2024
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Historical district boundaries
See also
References
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- Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present Template:Webarchive
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