Texas's 16th congressional district

"TX-16" redirects here. The term may also refer to Texas State Highway 16.
Not to be confused with Texas's 16th House of Representatives district.
Texas's 16th congressional district
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023
Representative
Distribution
  • 98.36% urban[1]
  • 1.64% rural
Population (2023)766,538[2]
Median household
income		$58,975[2]
Ethnicity
Cook PVID+11[3]

Texas's 16th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives includes almost all of El Paso and most of its suburbs in the state of Texas. The current Representative is Democrat Veronica Escobar.

The district was initially created in 1903. For most of the next six decades, it stretched across 42,000 square miles (110,000 km2), from El Paso in the west to the Permian Basin (Midland and Odessa) in the east. However, after Texas' original 1960 district map was thrown out as a result of Wesberry v. Sanders, the 16th was shrunk down to the city of El Paso (except a sliver in the east) and most of its surrounding suburban communities.

Since the 1990s, the 16th has been the only Democratic bastion in heavily Republican West Texas. While it has been a majority-Hispanic district since the 1970s, only two Hispanics have ever represented it, Silvestre Reyes and Escobar.

Recent election results from statewide races

Year Office Results[4]
2008 President Obama 65% - 34%
2012 President Obama 66% - 34%
2014 Senate Alameel 57% - 43%
Governor Davis 61% - 39%
2016 President Clinton 68% - 26%
2018 Senate O'Rourke 74% - 25%
Governor Valdez 67% - 32%
Lt. Governor Collier 68% - 29%
Attorney General Nelson 69% - 27%
2020 President Biden 67% - 32%
Senate Hegar 64% - 31%
2022 Governor O'Rourke 64% - 35%
Lt. Governor Collier 61% - 35%
Attorney General Mercedes Garza 63% - 34%
Comptroller of Public Accounts Dudding 60% - 35%
2024 President Harris 57% - 41%
Senate Allred 58% - 38%

Composition

For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:[5]

El Paso County (9)

Anthony, Canutillo, El Paso (part; also 23rd), Fort Bliss (part; also 23rd), Horizon City (part; also 23rd), Prado Verde, Sparks, Socorro (part; also 23rd), Vinton, Westway

List of members representing the district

Representative Party Years Cong
ess 		Electoral history
District established March 4, 1903

William Robert Smith
(Colorado) 		Democratic March 4, 1903 –
March 3, 1917 		58th
59th
60th
61st
62nd
63rd
64th 		Elected in 1902.
Re-elected in 1904.
Re-elected in 1906.
Re-elected in 1908.
Re-elected in 1910.
Re-elected in 1912.
Re-elected in 1914.
[data missing]

Thomas L. Blanton
(Abilene) 		Democratic March 4, 1917 –
March 3, 1919 		65th Elected in 1916.
Redistricted to the 17th district.

Claude Hudspeth
(El Paso) 		Democratic March 4, 1919 –
March 3, 1931 		66th
67th
68th
69th
70th
71st 		Elected in 1918.
Re-elected in 1920.
Re-elected in 1922.
Re-elected in 1924.
Re-elected in 1926.
Re-elected in 1928.
[data missing]

R. Ewing Thomason
(El Paso) 		Democratic March 4, 1931 –
July 31, 1947 		72nd
73rd
74th
75th
76th
77th
78th
79th
80th 		Elected in 1930.
Re-elected in 1932.
Re-elected in 1934.
Re-elected in 1936.
Re-elected in 1938.
Re-elected in 1940.
Re-elected in 1942.
Re-elected in 1944.
Re-elected in 1946.
Resigned to become U.S. District Judge.
Vacant July 31, 1947 –
August 23, 1947 		80th

Kenneth M. Regan
(Midland) 		Democratic August 23, 1947 –
January 3, 1955 		80th
81st
82nd
83rd 		Elected to finish Thomason's term.
Re-elected in 1948.
Re-elected in 1950.
Re-elected in 1952.
Lost renomination.

J. T. Rutherford
(Odessa) 		Democratic January 3, 1955 –
January 3, 1963 		84th
85th
86th
87th 		Elected in 1954.
Re-elected in 1956.
Re-elected in 1958.
Re-elected in 1960.
Lost re-election.

Ed Foreman
(Odessa) 		Republican January 3, 1963 –
January 3, 1965 		88th Elected in 1962.
Lost re-election.

Richard C. White
(El Paso) 		Democratic January 3, 1965 –
January 3, 1983 		89th
90th
91st
92nd
93rd
94th
95th
96th
97th 		Elected in 1964.
Re-elected in 1966.
Re-elected in 1968.
Re-elected in 1970.
Re-elected in 1972.
Re-elected in 1974.
Re-elected in 1976.
Re-elected in 1978.
Re-elected in 1980.
Retired.

Ronald D. Coleman
(El Paso) 		Democratic January 3, 1983 –
January 3, 1997 		98th
99th
100th
101st
102nd
103rd
104th 		Elected in 1982.
Re-elected in 1984.
Re-elected in 1986.
Re-elected in 1988.
Re-elected in 1990.
Re-elected in 1992.
Re-elected in 1994.
Retired.

Silvestre Reyes
(El Paso) 		Democratic January 3, 1997 –
January 3, 2013 		105th
106th
107th
108th
109th
110th
111th
112th 		Elected in 1996.
Re-elected in 1998.
Re-elected in 2000.
Re-elected in 2002.
Re-elected in 2004.
Re-elected in 2006.
Re-elected in 2008.
Re-elected in 2010.
Lost renomination.

Beto O'Rourke
(El Paso) 		Democratic January 3, 2013 –
January 3, 2019 		113th
114th
115th 		Elected in 2012.
Re-elected in 2014.
Re-elected in 2016.
Retired to run for U.S. Senator.

Veronica Escobar
(El Paso) 		Democratic January 3, 2019 –
present 		116th
117th
118th
119th 		Elected in 2018.
Re-elected in 2020.
Re-elected in 2022.
Re-elected in 2024.

Recent elections

2006

2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: District 16
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Silvestre Reyes (incumbent) 61,116 78.67
Libertarian Gordon Strickland 16,572 21.33
Total votes 77,688 100.00
Democratic hold

2008

2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: District 16
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Silvestre Reyes (incumbent) 130,375 82.14
Independent Ben Mendoza 16,348 10.30
Libertarian Mette Baker 12,000 7.56
Total votes 158,723 100.00
Democratic hold

2010

2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: District 16
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Silvestre Reyes (incumbent) 49,301 58.08
Republican Tim Besco 31,051 36.58
Libertarian Bill Collins 4,319 5.09
Write-in 221 0.26
Total votes 84,892 100.00
Democratic hold

2012

2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: District 16
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Beto O'Rourke 101,403 65.42
Republican Barbara Carrasco 51,043 32.93
Libertarian Junart Sodoy 2,559 1.65
Total votes 155,005 100.00
Democratic hold

2014

2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: District 16
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Beto O'Rourke (incumbent) 49,338 67.49
Republican Corey Roen 21,324 29.17
Libertarian Jaime Pérez 2,443 3.34
Total votes 73,105 100.00
Democratic hold

2016

2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: District 16
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Beto O'Rourke (incumbent) 150,228 85.73
Libertarian Jaime Pérez 17,491 9.98
Green Mary Gourdoux 7,510 4.29
Total votes 175,229 100.00
Democratic hold

2018

2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: District 16
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Veronica Escobar 124,437 68.46
Republican Rick Seeberger 49,127 27.03
Independent Ben Mendoza 8,147 4.48
Total votes 181,754 100.00
Democratic hold

2020

2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: District 16
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Veronica Escobar (incumbent) 154,108 64.72
Republican Irene Armendariz-Jackson 84,006 35.28
Total votes 238,114 100.00
Democratic hold

2022

2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: District 16
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Veronica Escobar (incumbent) 95,510 63.46
Republican Irene Armendariz-Jackson 54,986 36.54
Total votes 150,496 100.0
Democratic hold

2024

2024 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas: District 16
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Veronica Escobar (incumbent) 131,391 59.54
Republican Irene Armendariz-Jackson 89,281 40.46
Total votes 220,672 100.0
Democratic hold

Historical district boundaries

See also

References

  1. ^ "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (state-based)". United States Census Bureau.
  2. ^ a b "My Congressional District: Congressional District 16 (118th Congress), Texas". United States Census Bureau.
  3. ^ "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)". Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  4. ^ https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::1c2c1e0d-2fd1-43a8-a039-73e7023124d1
  5. ^ https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST48/CD118_TX16.pdf

31°54′39″N 106°18′38″W / 31.91083°N 106.31056°W / 31.91083; -106.31056

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