Texas's 21st congressional district of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

serves the area north of

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

and a significant portion of

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in the state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Towns entirely or partially in this district include

Boerne Boerne ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kendall County, Texas, United States, in the Texas Hill Country. Boerne is known for its German Texan, German-Texan history, named in honor of German author and satirist Ludwig Börne by the German Fo ...

, Fredericksburg, Ingram, Kerrville, Kyle,

New Braunfels New Braunfels ( ) is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Comal County. The city covers and had a population of 90,403 as of the 2020 Census. A suburb just north of San Antonio, and part ...

, and San Marcos. The current Representative from the 21st district is

Chip Roy Charles Eugene "Chip" Roy (born August 7, 1972) is an American attorney and politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Texas's 21st congressional district. A member of the Republican Party (United ...

. The district was created in 1934, and has always been anchored in the

Texas Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ame ...

and northern San Antonio. However, until the early 1980s, it stretched for some distance into West Texas, as far as

Big Bend National Park Big Bend National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in West Texas, bordering Mexico. The park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topograph ...

. It began shifting away from its Yellow Dog Democrat roots in the late 1960s, though it took until 1978 for a Republican to win it. The GOP has held it ever since, in large part due to the increased growth of the San Antonio suburbs. The district was pushed into the Austin area in the 1980 census; until the 2000s it included fast-growing

Round Rock Round Rock is a city in Williamson County, Texas, Williamson and Travis County, Texas, United States, part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 according to the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The city stra ...

Recent election results from statewide races

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: Bandera County (3) : All 3 communities Bexar County (8) :

Alamo Heights Alamo Heights is a city in Bexar County, Texas, United States, that is surrounded by the city of San Antonio. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Alamo Heights was 7,357. It is part of the Greater San Antonio metropolitan area. ...

, Castle Hills, Hill Country Village,

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Olmos Park Olmos Park is a city in Bexar County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,180 at the 2020 census. The town is noted for its park-like setting, oak-tree lined streets, and large estates, many of which were constructed during the 1920s. The ...

(part; also

35th Military units *35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force *35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I *35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...

(part; also 20th, 23rd, 28th,

; shared with Comal and

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

counties), Terrell Hills, Windcrest Blanco County (3) : All 3 communities Comal County (8) : Bulverde, Canyon Lake, Fair Oaks Ranch (part; also 23rd; shared with Bexar and Kendall counties), Garden Ridge,

(part; also 15th, 28th, and

; shared with Guadalupe County),

(part; also 20th, 23rd, 28th,

; shared with Bexar and

counties), Schertz (part; also 28th and

; shared with Bexar and Guadalupe counties), Spring Branch Gillespie County (3) : All 3 communities Hays County (12) :

(part; also 10th,

, and 37th; shared with Travis and Williamson counties), Bear Creek, Belterra,

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

(part; also

Driftwood Driftwood is a wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is part of beach wrack. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides ...

, Dripping Springs, Hays, Kyle (part; also

), Mountain City, San Marcos (part; also 27th and

; shared with

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized First Nation in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, Ea ...

and Guadalupe counties), Wimberley, Woodcreek Kendall County (3) : All 3 communities Kerr County (3) : All 3 communities Real County (2) : Camp Wood, Leakey Travis County (2) :

(part; also 10th,

, and 37th; shared with Hays and Williamson counties),

Barton Creek Barton Creek is a tributary that feeds the Colorado River as it flows through the Texas Hill Country. The creek passes through some of the more scenic areas in Greater Austin, surrounded in many parts by a greenbelt of protected lands that ser ...

List of members representing the district

Recent election results

2006

In the case of ''

League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry ''League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry'', 548 U.S. 399 (2006), is a Supreme Court of the United States case in which the Court ruled that only District 23 of the 2003 Texas redistricting violated the Voting Rights Act. The Court refu ...

'', 548 U. S. 399 (2006), the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

ruled that the configuration of Texas' 15th, 21st, 23rd, 25th and 28th congressional districts as drawn by the

Texas Legislature The Texas State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a p ...

violated the

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. Replacement district boundaries for the 2006 election were subsequently issued for the five districts by the local

federal district court 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. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

, and on election day in November, these five districts had open primaries, with candidates being elected for receiving over 50 percent of the vote. Runoff elections were held in December to decide elections in which no candidate gained an absolute majority in November. In the 2006 election, Lamar Smith defeated veteran and college administrator John Courage with 60% of the vote.

2008

2010

In the 2010 election, Lamar Smith defeated Lainey Melnick with 68.9 percent of the vote. Melnick, an Austin real estate broker, officially filed papers with the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...

on June 23, 2009 to become a candidate.

2012

Incumbent Lamar Smith faced five challengers in the 2012 general election on November 6, 2012: Candace Duval (

Dem DEM was the ISO 4217 currency code for the Deutsche Mark, former currency of Germany Computing * Digital elevation model, a digital representation of ground-surface topography or terrain ** .dem, a common extension for USGS DEM files * Discrete ...

), John-Henry Liberty (

Lib Lib may refer to: Computing * Library (computing) ** .lib, a static library on Microsoft platforms ** , a directory on Unix-like systems * Lib-80, a Microsoft Library Manager tool; see Microsoft MACRO-80 People * Lib, one of two Jaredite kings ...

), Fidel Castillo ( Grn), Bill Stout (Grn), and Carlos Pena (

Ind Ind or IND may refer to: General * Independent (politician), a politician not affiliated to any political party * Independent station, used within television program listings and the television industry for a station that is not affiliated with ...

2014

2016

2018

Lamar Smith did not run for reelection in 2018. On the Republican side, 18 candidates competed in the March 6 primary, in which no one received a majority. The first- and second-place finishers were, respectively, attorney Chip Roy, who served as chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and senior advisor to Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), and Matt McCall, owner of a business providing human tissue for American military hospitals. Roy and McCall advanced to a May 22 runoff, which Roy won with 52.7% of the vote. On the Democratic side, four candidates ran to replace Smith: Joseph Kopser, entrepreneur and Army veteran; Derrick Crowe, activist; Elliott McFadden, executive director of Austin B-cycle; and Mary Street Wilson, pastor. No one received a majority in the March 6 primary, so the top two finishers, Wilson and Kopser, advanced to a runoff on May 22. Kopser flipped the primary result in the runoff against Wilson, winning the nomination with 58% of the vote.

2020

The incumbent,

, was unopposed for the Republican nomination. Former state Senator Wendy Davis won the Democratic primary runoff. Tom Wakely was nominated by the Green Party caucus. The state Supreme Court allowed his inclusion after Wendy Davis tried unsuccessfully to have him removed from the ballot. Perennial candidate Arthur DiBianca was the Libertarian nominee; a last-minute lawsuit by Republicans to block DiBianca and 43 other Libertarian Party candidates from the ballot failed.

Primary results

General election

2022

2024

The incumbent, Chip Roy (R, Dripping Springs), an attorney, ran unopposed and was nominated in the March 5, 2024 Republican primary. Dr. Kristin Hook (D, San Antonio), a biologist formerly employed as a biologist by US Government Accountability Office, ran unopposed and was nominated in the March 5, 2024 Democratic primary. Bob King (L, New Braunfels), a retired energy finance executive and nonprofit leader, ran unopposed and was nominated at the Libertarian district convention on March 23, 2024.https://www.lptexas.org/2024_candidates

Historical district boundaries

References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
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