Senate Districts 28, 30, & 31

And now we finish up the State Senate with the last 3 districts.

Senate District 28 is a West Texas/Panhandle district.  The big city here is Lubbock followed by San Angelo.  This district covers 51 counties, which gives you an idea of how unpopulated this area of the state is.  Back in the 60s this district was much smaller, only 11 counties dominated by Lubbock.  For a short time future Governor Preston Smith (D) represented this area.  Fast forward to 1975 and then-Democrat Kent Hance was the State Senator.  Hance would go on to be a Democratic Congressman from West Texas defeating future President George W. Bush (R). After switching to the Republican Party he served on the Texas Railroad Commission.  Hance now serves as Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System.  Fast forward to 1983 and another Democrat, John Montford, held this seat until 1996.  And yes, that John Montford.  After serving as Texas Tech Chancellor, Montford went on to bigger things such as AT&T and General Motors.  Republican Robert Duncan has occupied this seat since 1997.

2012

President

Romney - 73.6%; 182,982
Obama - 25%; 62,163

U.S. Senate

Cruz - 72.1%; 175,517
Sadler - 24.8%; 60,326


Senate District 30

This district can best be described as a Wichita Falls district.  Since 2001, Republican Craig Estes has represented the district.  From 1995-2001, Republican Tom Haywood as the Senator.  Prior to Haywood was Steve Carriker, the last Democrat to hold this seat.  A couple of notable past Senators include Democrats Jack Hightower and Ray Farabee.  As mentioned previously, SD 30 was briefly SD 23.  Hightower represented this district from 1965-1975 when it was SD 23 and SD 30.  Ray Farabee probably sounds familiar to some because he was the father of former Democratic State Rep. David Farabee.


2012

President

Romney - 75.7%; 223,487
Obama - 22.6%; 66,674

U.S. Senate

Cruz - 73.6%; 212,795
Sadler - 23.2%; 67,219


Senate District 31

SD 28 had 51 counties, Senate District 31 only has 37, but it stretches from the Oklahoma Border in the Panhandle and reaches down to include the cities of Midland and Odessa, along with Amarillo up in the Panhandle.  Republican Senator Kel Seliger currently represents this district.  He's been here since 2004.  Prior to him, Republican Teel Bivins.  Bivins resigned his seat and was appointed Ambassador to Sweden.  When this district was in the San Antonio area, Samuel Maverick, of the famous Maverick family, was the State Senator from 1855-1859.



2012

President

Romney - 75.5%; 186,762
Obama - 19.2%; 45,034

U.S. Senate

Cruz - 78.8%; 182,308
Sadler - 18.7%; 43,245

As previously mentioned, all three of these districts match one state.

It's Utah.  Romney won Utah by 48.04%.  He carried SD 28 by 48.6%, SD 30 by 53.1%, and SD 31 by 60.3%.  SD 31 was Romney's best district and Obama's worst, percentage wise.  Obama only got 19.2% of the vote in SD 31.  Needless to say, all three districts are strongly Republican.

And with that, we have a nationwide map of the Texas State Senate.