Texas's 4th congressional district

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The current boundaries of Texas District 4.

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 Dallas, including all of Collin County outside of the area around Plano. It then snakes down east of Dallas to include some counties in East Texas like Van Zandt and portions of Kaufman. 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).

Once a reliably Democratic district, the district swung rapidly into the Republican column as Dallas' suburbs encroached on it. 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.

The district has had only four congressmen since its creation. Ralph Hall, the current dean of the Texas congressional delegation, has represented the district since 1981. Originally a Democrat, he became a Republican in 2004. He'd 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.

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

Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in the fourth district.

[edit] Representatives from Texas District 4

The district was created in 1903, one of three Texas gained after the 1900 Census.

Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	District Residence
Choice B. Randell	1903	1913	Democrat	Sherman
Sam Rayburn	1913	1961^[1]	Democrat	Bonham
Ray Roberts	1962	1981	Democrat	McKinney
Ralph Hall	1981	2004	Democrat	Rockwall
Ralph Hall	2004	currently serving	Republican^[2]	Rockwall

^ Rayburn died in late 1961 in the middle of his 25th term; Roberts succeeded him in a special election.
^ Hall switched his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican in 2004.

[edit] Election results

US House election, 2004: Texas District 4
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ralph Hall	182,866	68.2	+27.9
	Democratic	Jim Nickerson	81,585	30.4	-27.4
	Libertarian	Kevin D. Anderson	3,491	1.3	-0.5
Majority			101,281	37.8
Turnout			267,942
	Republican hold		Swing	+27.6

Ralph Hall's Democratic opponent in the 2006 election was Dr. Glenn Melancon.

Texas's congressional districts
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