Texas
30 seats: 13R, 17D
Where It Ranks Among the States (House Elections 2000)- Voter Turnout: 47th (40%)
- Victory Margin: 37th (45%)
Facts in Focus- The average margin of victory in U.S. House races in Texas
was 45% in 2000 � a continuation of
the trend from the 1998 elections, which were the largest average margin of the
nineties.
- 83% of U.S. House races in Texas were won by landslide margins of 20% or more in 2000. This
is a disturbing return to the results of 1982-1992, when more than
80% of races were won by landslide.
-
9 races were not even contested by the opposing
major party in 2000, which is almost one out of three seats.
- Texas ranked 46th in the
"democracy index," an overall measure of ranking.
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 | Only 29% of adults in
Texas voted in 2000 for the person who represents them in the U.S.
House. This pitiful result, however, is the highest ranking for
the state since 1990 in the "representation index."Of the last 213 incumbents in
Texas seeking re-election, only five have lost. Incumbents won 79 of 80
re-election bids in 1996-2000. Republicans have won a healthy majority
of the statewide vote in each election in 1994-2000, but have still
not gained a majority of the vote.Texas Democrats pulled off a partisan coup in
the 1992 redistricting, packing eight Republican incumbents into
heavily Republican districts and winning 21 of the remaining 22
House seats with only 50% of the statewide vote. Republicans eagerly
await redistricting in 2001, which could reduce the number of
districts favorable to Democrats.
How
Texas ranked in 2000
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