Chet Edwards and Texas's 17th Congressional District

Chet Edwards

Biographical Information

Congressman Chet Edwards has served for fourteen years in the House of Representatives and currently represents the 17th Congressional District in Texas. The district's hub is Waco, but the 17th extends to include the suburbs of Fort Worth. District 17 was created in 2003; prior to that Congressman Edwards served in the 11th Congressional District in the same general region of central Texas. Congressman Edwards is a Democrat who serves on a number of Congressional committees and subcommittees including the House Budget Committee, House Appropriations Committee, Military Quality of Life Subcommittee, the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, and the Homeland Security Subcommittee. Edwards is practically a lone Democrat in a predominantly Republican state; he edged out Republican rival Arlene Wohlgemuth in the 2004 election by a slim 51% to 47% margin.

Voting Record

VoteSmart.org lists each Congressman's support of the liberal group Americans for Democratic Action on a scale of 0-100. Chet Edwards ranks 80, which is relatively high. In 2004, Congressman Edwards supported the interests of the Americans for Democratic Action 65% of the time, down from 80% of the time in 2003 and 75% of the time in 2002 ("Representative Thomas 'Chet' Edwards").

On the contrary, Edwards supported the interests of the American Conservative Union 48% in 2004, up from 40% in 2003 and 36% in 2002 ("Representative Thomas 'Chet' Edwards").

Congressman Edwards supported the labor-related interests of the AFL/CIO 73% of the time in 2004, down slightly from 80% in 2003 and 89% in 2002.

In 2004, Chet Edwards supported the business and consumer interests of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 81%, up from 64% in 2003 and 65% in 2002.

Congressman Chet Edwards supported the pro-choice interests of Planned Parenthood 91% in 2001. Similarly, Edwards supported the interests of the National Abortion Reproductive Rights Action League 100% of the time in 2004 and 2003. On the contrary, in 2003-2004 Edwards supported the interests of the National Right to Life Committee only 9% of the time. Edwards supported the interests of the League of Conservation Voters 35% of the time in 2003-2004, down from only 41% in 2001-2002.

According to opensecrets.org, the bulk of Edwards' campaign contributions is donated by business labor organizations: 38.7% from business and 31.7% from labor. Total donations from labor sectors in 2004 amount to $354,006. Business sector donations can be broken down as follows: $57,700 from agribusiness, $159,737 from miscellaneous business, $63,875 from communications and electronics, $71,300 from construction, $289,346 from finance, insurance, and real estate, and $89,400 from transportation. Edwards also receives sizeable donations from other interest groups: $272,450 from lawyers and other lobbyists, and $134,500 from leadership political action committees. $11,500 was donated by oil and gas corporations.

Analysis

There are definite connections between Chet Edward's voting record and the contributions he has received from campaign donors. First, Edwards has voted against the interest of prominent environmental lobbying groups such as the League of Conservation Voters throughout the past several years of his voting history. Concurrently, Edwards has received hefty donations from industries that may be hurt through strict environmental policymaking. For example, Edwards received $71,200 from construction companies and $289, 346 from real estate industries. The construction and real estate industries are often at odds with environmental groups over land development. Oil and gas firms, which are heavily represented in the state of Texas, donated $11,500 to Edwards' campaign in 2004. Consequently, Edwards has not received sizeable contributions from environmental organizations and has not voted in accordance with environmental interests. The top two sectors donating to the Edwards campaign in 2004 were business and labor interest groups. Edwards consequentially voted heavily in favor of labor and business interests.

Edwards does generally vote along party lines, and can be considered a middle-of-the-road fiscally conservative democrat. His voting record on right-to-choose abortion issues shows that he is a social issue liberal in spite of his overt alliance with Church groups. Edwards' pro-labor voting record also coincides with Democratic Party values. Congressman Edwards has slipped slightly in his accordance with the liberal values espoused by Americans for Democratic Action but generally can be considered an emblematic democrat. However, Edwards' record on environmental issues shows that he veers far from left-leaning democrats regarding the conflict between certain sectors of business (energy and construction for example) and environmental protection.

Edwards' voting record reflects the demographics of the region, which is ethnically diverse, rooted in traditional industries like transportation and agriculture, but which also boasts a substantial number of young college-age voters who may tend toward liberalism. Edwards' committee membership directly reflects the economic and social demography of the 17 Congressional district; at one of Texas' transportation and educational hubs, Edwards sits on two of the House's most powerful committees: Appropriation and Budget. His ties with the business and labor sector make Edwards an ideal candidate for leadership in the realm of federal expenditures. His membership on these powerful House committees reflects the powerful fiscal interests of his congressional district. In many ways, Edwards straddles the line between Republican and Democrat, conservative and liberal. Moreover, Congressman Chet Edwards won narrowly in the last election, which could explain his shift in recent voting behavior on liberal issues.