The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the 36 U.S. representatives from the state of Texas—an increase of four seats in reapportionment following the 2010 United States census. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election and an election for the U.S. Senate. The primary election had been scheduled to be held on March 6, 2012, with a runoff election on May 22; because of problems arising from redistricting, the primary was postponed to May 29, and the run-off to July 31.[1]
With 58% of voting age people turning out, all existing seats were held by their respective parties with one exception, the Democrats picking up the 23rd District. Of the four new seats, two were won by the Republican Party for a total of 24 seats, and two were won by the Democratic Party for a total of 12 seats.
In March 2011, The Texas Tribune conducted a poll of Texas "insiders" which found 54 per cent to believe three of the state's four new congressional districts would be drawn to favor the Republican Party, with one district drawn to favor the Democratic Party; while 37 per cent of those polled felt two districts would favor Republicans while two would favor Democrats.[2] In April, Republican U.S. Representative Lamar Smith argued that the seats should be evenly split between the parties in order to reflect Texas's growing Hispanic population and abide by the Voting Rights Act. Joe Barton, also a Republican U.S. Representative, disagreed, arguing that three or four of the districts should favor Republicans.[3]
Also in April, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus filed a lawsuit against GovernorRick Perry and the state of Texas, seeking to halt redistricting based on census data which allegedly failed to count up to 250,000 Hispanic residents of colonias.[4] Later in April, Democratic U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett released a map which he alleged had been submitted by Republican members of Congress to leaders of the Texas Legislature. The map would divide Travis County between four districts, three of which would favor Republicans and one of which would favor Democrats.[5]
In May, state representativeBurt Solomons, a Republican, expressed concern that the legislature would not produce a congressional redistricting map by May 30, when it was scheduled to adjourn, and that a special session would be necessary.[6]State senatorKel Seliger, the chair of the Senate's Select Committee on Redistricting, also downplayed the likelihood that redistricting legislation would be passed but emphasized the importance of creating a "credible instrument for the court to consider."[7] Joe Barton later filed a lawsuit in response to perceived "inaction" by the legislature on redistricting.[8] On May 25, Seliger confirmed that the legislature would not pass redistricting legislation, and that a congressional map would be drawn either by a federal court or in a special session.[9] The same day, Rick Perry reiterated his position that the Legislature rather than the courts should draw the map,[10] and three days later said he would call a special session on the condition that legislators decide on a map in advance.[11]
On May 30, Perry called a special session.[12] On May 31, the first day of the special session, redistricting was added to the list of matters to be addressed and Seliger and Solomons released a proposed congressional map. In Seliger and Solomons' map, African Americans and Hispanic Americans form majorities in two of the new districts, while the other two new districts gave Perry more than 56 per cent of their vote in the 2010 gubernatorial election. The districts represented by Doggett and Republicans Quico Canseco and Blake Farenthold would be made more favorable to Republicans. Democratic state representative Marc Veasey and Nina Perales of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund criticized the plan, which they said failed to increase the number of minority opportunity districts.[13] Democratic U.S. Representative Gene Green filed a lawsuit against the map, alleging that it would neglect Hispanic population growth primarily in Harris County.[14] On June 2, Solomons acknowledged that the map was likely to undergo significant changes.[15]
A new map was proposed by Seliger on June 2, under which Republican U.S. Representative Ron Paul's district would be significantly modified and a district which linked urban Houston to rural East Texas counties would be redrawn. The map was passed by the State Senate's redistricting committee,[16] and by the full Senate on party lines on June 6.[17] A slightly different map from that passed by the Senate was passed by the House of Representatives' Redistricting Committee. The House map would lower the Hispanic population of Canseco's district by concentrating Hispanics in Democrat Charlie Gonzalez's district.[18] The map was passed by the full House of Representatives on June 14.[19] On June 20, the Senate voted to accept the House's amendments.[20] The map was signed into law by Perry on July 18.[21]
On September 13, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice said that, based on a preliminary investigation, the map appeared to have been "adopted, at least in part, for the purpose of diminishing the ability of citizens of the United States, on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, to elect their preferred candidates of choice to Congress" and would have a discriminatory effect.[22]
On November 8, a federal court refused to approve the Legislature's proposed map, thereby necessitating lengthy legal proceedings and the implementation of an interim map for the 2012 elections, to be drawn by a panel of federal judges.[23] On November 23, a panel of three federal judges drew a map in which three of the four new districts would favor Democrats.[24] However, three days later, Greg Abbott, the Texas Attorney General, announced that the state would file for an emergency stay from the U.S. Supreme Court.[25] On December 9, the Supreme Court blocked the use of the map drawn by federal judges. This was expected to necessitate delaying the state's filing deadline and primary elections.[26]
On January 20, 2012, the Supreme Court rejected the map drawn by the federal court, holding that the court had not paid enough attention to the maps drawn by the legislature, and sent the case back to the lower court.[27]
There was speculation that Hall might retire due to his age - he was 89 years old - and a closer than usual primary in 2010 (though he still won with 57% of the vote).[34] Hall faced two opponents in his party's May primary: businessman and 2010 primary candidate Steve Clark,[35] and businessman Lou Gigliotti.[36]
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