The 1986 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas occurred on November 4, 1986, to elect the members of the state of Texas's delegation to the United States House of Representatives. Texas had twenty-seven seats in the House, apportioned according to the

1980 United States Census The United States census of 1980, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4 percent over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census. It was th ...

. These elections occurred simultaneously with the United States Senate elections of 1986, the United States House elections in other states, and various state and local elections. Democrats maintained their majority of U.S. House seats from Texas, but

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

retained the four seats they gained in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

under the coattails of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

's re-election.

Overview

Congressional Districts

District 1

Incumbent Democrat

Sam B. Hall Samuel Blakeley Hall Jr. (January 11, 1924 – April 10, 1994) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas's 1st congressional district from 1976 to 1985 and a United Sta ...

resigned to become a

U.S. District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

. This prompted a special election to be held. Republicans saw this special election as a prime opportunity to demonstrate the political realignment of East Texas, as the district had supported Republicans

and

Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was ...

. Gramm had arranged Hall's appointment to the judiciary in an attempt to see a Republican elected from the area. In the end, however, Democrat Jim Chapman narrowly won the election in a runoff. He ran for re-election unopposed.

District 2

Incumbent Democrat Charlie Wilson ran for re-election.

District 3

Incumbent Republican

Steve Bartlett Harry Stephen Bartlett (born September 19, 1947) is an American politician and former president and CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable, an advocacy group lobbying the U.S. federal government on financial services legislation, a position ...

ran for re-election.

District 4

Incumbent Democrat Ralph Hall ran for re-election.

District 5

Incumbent Democrat John Wiley Bryant ran for re-election.

District 6

Incumbent Republican Joe Barton ran for re-election.

District 7

Incumbent Republican Bill Archer ran for re-election.

District 8

Incumbent Republican

Jack Fields Jack Milton Fields Jr. (born February 3, 1952) is a Texas businessman and a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from a Houston-based district. Early life Fields was born in Humble, a northern suburb of Hous ...

ran for re-election.

District 9

Incumbent Democrat

Jack Brooks Jack Brooks may refer to: * Jack Brooks (cricketer) (born 1984), English cricketer *Jack Brooks (footballer) (1904–1973), English footballer *Jack Brooks (lyricist) (1912–1971), British-American lyricist *Jack Brooks (American politician) (1922� ...

ran for re-election.

District 10

Incumbent Democrat

J. J. Pickle James Jarrell "Jake" Pickle (October 11, 1913 – June 18, 2005) was a United States Representative from the 10th congressional district of Texas from 1963 to 1995. Pickle was born in Roscoe, Texas and brought up in Big Spring. He acquired h ...

ran for re-election.

District 11

Incumbent Democrat

Marvin Leath James Marvin Leath (May 6, 1931 – December 8, 2000) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Texas. Born in Henderson, Texas, Leath attended the Rusk County public schools and graduated from Henderson High School ...

ran for re-election unopposed.

District 12

Incumbent Democrat

Jim Wright James Claude Wright Jr. (December 22, 1922 – May 6, 2015) was an American politician who served as the 48th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1989. He represented Texas's 12th congressional district as a ...

ran for re-election. He was subsequently elected

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

District 13

Incumbent Republican

Beau Boulter Eldon Beau Boulter (born February 23, 1942) is an American politician. He served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 13th district of Texas. Boulter was born in El Paso, Texas. He and his fam ...

ran for re-election.

District 14

Incumbent Republican

Mac Sweeney David McCann "Mac" Sweeney (born September 15, 1955) is a Republican former member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas. Born in Wharton in Wharton County west of Houston, Sweeney earned his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doct ...

ran for re-election.

District 15

Incumbent Democrat

Kika de la Garza Eligio "Kika" de la Garza II (September 22, 1927March 13, 2017) was an American politician who served as the Democratic representative for the 15th congressional district of Texas from January 3, 1965, to January 3, 1997. Biography De la Garza ...

ran for re-election unopposed.

District 16

Incumbent Democrat Ronald D. Coleman ran for re-election.

District 17

Incumbent Democrat Charles Stenholm ran for re-election unopposed.

District 18

Incumbent Democrat Mickey Leland ran for re-election.

District 19

Incumbent Republican Larry Combest ran for re-election.

District 20

Incumbent Democrat

Henry B. González Henry Barbosa González (born Enrique Barbosa González; May 3, 1916 – November 28, 2000) was an American Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Texas, who represented Texas's 20th congressional district from 1961 to 1999. Early lif ...

ran for re-election unopposed.

District 21

Incumbent Republican Tom Loeffler retired to run for governor.

District 22

Incumbent Republican Tom DeLay ran for re-election.

District 23

Incumbent Democrat

Albert Bustamante Albert Garza Bustamante (April 8, 1935 – November 30, 2021) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 23rd district. A Democrat, he served as a member and one-time Cha ...

ran for re-election.

District 24

Incumbent Democrat Martin Frost ran for re-election.

District 25

Incumbent Democrat

Michael A. Andrews Michael Allen Andrews (born February 7, 1944) is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas. He was elected as a Democrat to the 98th United States Congress and the five s ...

ran for re-election unopposed.

District 26

Incumbent Republican Dick Armey ran for re-election. Former representative Tom Vandergriff had considered running to regain the seat he had previously held from 1983-1985, but he ultimately declined.

District 27

Incumbent Democrat

Solomon Ortiz Solomon Porfirio Ortiz (born June 3, 1937) is an American former politician who served as the U.S. representative for , based in Corpus Christi, serving from 1983 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. In 2010, Ortiz was narrowly de ...

ran for re-election unopposed.

References

{{Elections in Texas footer

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

Texas 1986 Texas elections