From 2002 to 2013, it was an oblong district stretching from south of Tarrant County to Grimes County in the southeast. The 2012 redistricting made its area more square, removing the northern and southeastern portions, adding areas southwest into the northern Austin suburbs and east into Freestone and Leon counties. The district includes two major universities, Texas A&M University in College Station and Baylor University in Waco.
After the 2003 Texas redistricting, engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, TX-17 was (along with MS-4) the most heavily Republican district in the nation represented by a Democrat, according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, which rated it R+20.[6] The district was drawn to make it Republican-dominated and unseat its longtime then-incumbent, conservative Democrat Chet Edwards. While several of his colleagues went down to defeat, Edwards held on to the seat in the 2004, 2006 and 2008 elections.
However, in the 2010 Congressional elections, the district elected Republican Bill Flores over Edwards by a margin of 61.8% to 36.6%.[7] Flores is the only Republican elected to represent the district since its creation in 1919.
^Bureau, Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)