Texas's 23rd congressional district

Texas's 23rd congressional district
Texas's 23rd congressional district
	Texas's 23rd congressional district since January 3, 2023
Representative	Tony Gonzales; R–San Antonio
Distribution	78.09% urban; 21.91% rural;
Population (2023)	786,734
Median household; income	$74,285
Ethnicity	62.9% Hispanic; 28.4% White; 3.3% Black; 2.4% Asian; 2.1% Two or more races; 0.8% other;
Cook PVI	R+5

Texas's 23rd congressional district stretches across the southwestern portion of Texas. It is a majority Hispanic district and has been represented by Republican Tony Gonzales since 2021.

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The 23rd district runs along the majority of Texas' border with Mexico, north of the Rio Grande. It stretches from western San Antonio to El Paso, encompassing numerous county seats and towns of regional economic importance.

The district is predominantly rural. Campaigning is difficult due to its size and disparate influences; the population density is one of the lowest in any congressional district. Economic activities include farming, ranching, oil, and mineral extraction; also recreation, manufacturing, and tourism, as it encompasses all of Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park.

The 2010s iteration of this district was the only one in the U.S. to vote for the Republican candidate for President in 2012, flip to the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, and then flip back to the Republican candidate in 2020.^[4]

Election results from recent statewide races

Results under current lines (since 2023)^[5]

More information Year, Office ...

Year	Office	Result
2014	Senate	Cornyn 65 - 35%
2014	Governor	Abbott 61 - 39%
2016	President	Trump 50 - 46%
2018	Senate	Cruz 51 - 49%
	Governor	Abbott 56 - 42%
	Lieutenant Governor	Patrick 52 - 46%
	Attorney General	Paxton 50 - 47%
2020	President	Trump 53 - 46%
2020	Senate	Cornyn 54 - 43%
2022	Governor	Abbott 54 - 44%
	Lieutenant Governor	Patrick 54 - 43%
	Attorney General	Paxton 53 - 44% ^[6]

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Demographics

According to the APM Research Lab's Voter Profile Tools (featuring the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey), the district contained about 511,000 potential voters (citizens, age 18+). Of these, 64% are Latino, while 29% are White. One in ten potential voters were born outside of the U.S., now naturalized citizens. Median income among households (with one or more potential voter) in the district is about $61,800, while 11% of households live below the poverty line. As for the educational attainment of potential voters in the district, 17% of those 25 and older have not earned a high school degree, while 23% hold a bachelor's or higher degree.

Election results

Elections from 1967 to 1992

This district was created in 1967, following passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In addition, it followed the case of Wesberry v. Sanders, resulting in Texas's previous congressional map being tossed out. Democrats held the district until 1993.

Elections from 1992 to 2002

Following the 1990 census, in 1992, the Texas Legislature created the new 28th district, mostly from the eastern portion of the 23rd. In the process, the legislature left a heavily Republican section of western San Antonio in the 23rd. Republican Henry Bonilla beat 4-term incumbent Albert Bustamante to take the seat in 1992.

Although the 23rd leaned slightly Democratic on paper, Bonilla had a very conservative voting record. Largely because of his popularity in San Antonio, he did not face a credible challenger until 2002, when the former Democratic Texas Secretary of State, Henry Cuellar, came within 2 points of unseating him.

2004 election

During the 2003 Texas redistricting, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature shifted most of Laredo, which had been one of the bases of the 23rd from the beginning, into the 28th district. Several heavily Republican suburbs in the Texas Hill Country north of San Antonio were shifted into the 23rd district, all but ensuring Bonilla of a seventh term.