Texas's 2nd congressional district

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Texas's 2nd congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in the southeastern portion of the state of Texas. As of the 2000 census, District 2 represents 651,619 people.

The district once covered large portions of southern East Texas and South Texas, but has shrunken considerably as Texas' population has grown. It currently includes all of Jefferson County, most of Liberty County and portions of Harris and Orange counties. For most of its history, the district has been based in Galveston, but has also included the oil-producing cities of Beaumont and Port Arthur, as well as large portions of Houston.

The district is historically Democratic. It was radically altered in a controversial redistricting orchestrated by Tom DeLay, the House Majority Leader and the congressman from the neighboring 22nd district. Galveston and the portion of Houston around the Johnson Space Center were removed, and several more Republican areas including Kingwood, Spring, and northwest Houston were added. The four-term Democratic incumbent, Nick Lampson, was unseated by Republican Ted Poe, a longtime felony court judge in Harris County.

The district's best-known congressman, Jack Brooks, represented the district for 14 years, from 1953 to 1967.

[edit] Representatives from Texas District 2

The district was formed in 1846, after Texas joined the Union.

Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	District Residence
Timothy Pilsbury	1846	1849	Democrat	Brazoria
Volney E. Howard	1849	1853	Democrat	San Antonio
Peter Hansbrough Bell	1853	1857	Democrat
Guy Morrison Bryan	1857	1859	Democrat	Galveston
Andrew Jackson Hamilton	1859	1861	Republican	La Grange
American Civil War/Reconstruction
John Coggswell Conner	1869	1873	Democrat
William Pinkney McLean	1873	1875	Democrat	Jefferson
David Browning Culberson	1875	1883	Democrat	Jefferson
John Henninger Reagan	1883	1887	Democrat	Palestine
William H. Martin	1887	1891	Democrat	Athens
John Benjamin Long	1891	1893	Democrat	Rusk
Samuel Bronson Cooper	1893	1905	Democrat	Woodville
Moses Lycurgus Broocks	1905	1907	Democrat	San Augustine
Samuel Bronson Cooper	1907	1909	Democrat	Woodville
Martin Dies	1909	1919	Democrat	Beaumont
A. Jeff McLemore	1917	1919	Democrat	Houston
John Calvin Box	1919	1931	Democrat	Jacksonville
Martin Dies, Jr.	1931	1945	Democrat	Lufkin
Jesse Martin Combs	1945	1953*	Democrat	Beaumont
Jack Brooks	1953	1967	Democrat	Beaumont
John V. Dowdy	1967	1973	Democrat	Athens
Charles Wilson	1973	1997	Democrat	Lufkin
Jim Turner	1997	2005	Democrat	Crockett
Ted Poe	2005	present	Republican	Humble

(*)Died in office.

[edit] Election results

US House election, 2004: Texas District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ted Poe	139,951	55.5	+17.3
	Democratic	Nick Lampson	108,156	42.9	-17.9
	Libertarian	Sandra Saulsbury	3,931	1.6	+0.6
Majority			31,795	12.6
Turnout			252,038
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing	+17.6

Texas's congressional districts
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