At Least 12 Texas Members of Congress Won't Return Next Year

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At least 12 members of Texas' congressional delegation elected in 2024 won't be returning to office next year. Eleven are incumbents, and one is deceased. The number is expected to grow depending on the outcome of upcoming elections. The departures represent nearly one-third of the state's 38-member congressional delegation, the second largest in the country behind California.

Why it matters

The significant turnover in Texas' congressional delegation reflects the impact of redistricting, retirements, and primary challenges. Several Democrats ran in new districts due to redistricting, upending several races. The changes will reshape the state's political landscape and power dynamics in Washington.

The details

The 12 members who won't be returning represent both Republican and Democratic strongholds whose new seats under redistricting aren't expected to flip. Several Democrats, including former Houston mayor Sylvester Turner and incumbent Reps. Marc Veasey and Lloyd Doggett, are casualties of redistricting. On the Republican side, disgraced Reps. Tony Gonzales and Dan Crenshaw were forced out after tumultuous primary races.

• In 2024, Houston's former Democratic mayor Sylvester Turner won CD 18, a Democratic stronghold, filling an open seat vacated by deceased U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.
• Last year, Veasey and Doggett announced they weren't running for reelection because of redistricting.
• Gonzales was forced to end his reelection bid by U.S. House leadership after he admitted to having an affair with a staffer who later killed herself.
• Crenshaw was ousted by state Rep. Steve Toth, a conservative member of the state House, after voters expressed disgust with Crenshaw's behavior.
• The last time a large number of Texas' congressional delegation didn't return to Congress was eight years ago, when 10 members elected in 2016 didn't run for reelection or lost in 2018.

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