| TX-28 is a long, slender district stretching from just south of Austin at the north end, down to the Mexican border. It includes San Marcos and Seguin, about 20% of San Antonio, half of Laredo, and half of New Braunfels. The district is currently represented in Congress by Democrat Henry Cuellar, who had previously served as Texas Secretary of State (2001), and as a legislator in the Texas House of Representatives (1987-2001). Cuellar was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004, when he unseated a fellow Democrat, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, in the primary by just 58 votes. The district was given its current boundaries by the Texas legislature in the 2003 mid-decade redistricting that occurred after Republicans took over the Texas House in 2002. Rodriguez is challenging Cuellar in the Democratic primary again this year. Teacher and former U.S. Senate candidate Victor Morales is also running in the Democratic primary. No Republican is running in the 2006 general election. No Republican is running in the 2006 general election.
In 2002, Henry Cuellar ran in district TX-23 against Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla, barely losing 52%-47%. He was preparing for another run in 2004 when Texas redistricted again, putting Cuellar in TX-28, then represented by a fellow Democrat, Ciro Rodriguez. Cuellar decided to continue with a run, challenging Rodriguez in the Democratic primary. The vote was very close. Cuellar carried his base in Webb County (Laredo) 84%-16%. Rodriguez carried his base in Bexar County (San Antonio) 80%-20%. But even though the district's portion of Bexar County makes up roughly 44% of the total population of the district to the Webb County portion's 15%, there were more primary voters who actually voted in Webb County than in Bexar County. Webb County voters made up 31% of Democratic primary voters in 2004.
The initial count showed Rodriguez winning by only 145 votes. After a recount in which Zapata County officials found 177 extra votes for Cuellar and none extra for Rodriguez, Cuellar found himself ahead by 203 votes. A lawsuit and second recount later, Cuellar was handed a victory by a state appellate court decision in which the 5 Republicans sided with Cuellar and the 2 Democrats sided with Rodriguez. Cuellar defeated Republican nominee Jim Hopson 59% (106,323 votes) to 39% (69,538 votes).
About 44% of the population of TX-28 is in San Antonio's Bexar County. About 15% is in Laredo's Webb County. Another 14% is in Seguin's Guadalupe County. And another 9% is in San Marcos's Hays County. 2% is in New Braunfels' Comal County. Between the San Antonio and Laredo poles of the district are the oil and cattle lands of La Salle County, Frio County, McMullen County, Atascosa County and Wilson County. Zapata County, south of Laredo along the border is in the district, as well.
Important institutions in San Antonio include the Catholic Church, which runs St Mary's University, and the United States Military, which maintains army and air force bases there. Brooks City Base, slated for closure by the Pentagon in 2005, is in the district. Toyota is now building a pickup truck manufacturing plant at the site of the old base and will directly employ 2000 people. Laredo is the main border crossing for U.S.-Mexico trade.
Gore carried the district in 2000 51%-49%, but in 2004, Bush carried the district 53%-47%. In 2002, Democrat John Sharp carried TX-28 with 62% of the vote in the race for Lieutenant Governor, to Republican David Dewhurst's 38%. The 2003 redistricting made TX-28 less Democratic. The pre-2003 district went for Gore in 2000 by 59%-41%.
The district overall is 27.9% White, 64.5% Hispanic, 6.0% Black, 0.5% Asian, with the remaining 1.1% including Native Americans, other races, and those of two or more races. The total population was 651,620 people, as of the 2000 census. The district is 75.9% urban and 24.1% rural. The median income is $31,355, compared to a U.S. median income of $44,473 and a Texas median income of $41,275. 22.6% of the people in the district live below the poverty line. Jobs are 50.0% white collar, 30.7% blue collar, and 19.3% gray collar. 11.9% are military veterans. 52.9% speak a language other than English in the home. 9.5% do not speak English well.
So now you know all about TX-28. If you're interested in the race, you should check out the candidate sites for Ciro Rodriguez and Henry Cuellar.
Sources: The Almanac of American Politics, Ciro D. Rodriguez for U.S. Congress, Henry Cuellar's House of Representatives site, Victor Morales for Congress, the Quorum Report's 2006 Candidate List, the Texas Legislature's website's District Reports feature, nationalatlas.gov, Wikipedia's entries for Henry Cuellar and Ciro Rodriguez
Update: Included information about candidate Victor Morales and English fluency. |
