Editing Chet Edwards (section)

===2010===
{{See also|2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas#District 17}}
Edwards was challenged by Republican nominee [[Bill Flores]], a retired [[Bryan, Texas|Bryan]] oil and gas executive.

Edwards was endorsed by the ''[[Dallas Morning News]]''<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-edwards_1008edi.State.Edition1.11318e4.html|title=We recommend Edwards in 17th District|date=October 7, 2010|newspaper=Dallas Morning News}}</ref> and the ''[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/10/11/2538227/nov-2-election-recommendation.html|title=Nov. 2 election recommendation: Chet Edwards in U.S. House District 17|date=October 11, 2010|newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram}}</ref>

[[Nate Silver]] in the [[FiveThirtyEight.com]] ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' blog predicted that there was a 4.7% chance that Edwards would defeat Flores.<ref>{{cite news | first = Nate | last = Silver | title = FiveThirtyEight Forecasts Texas 17th District | date = 2010-10-20 | url = http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/house/texas/17 | work = The New York Times | access-date = 2010-10-22}}</ref> [[Real Clear Politics]] rated this race "Likely Republican".<ref>{{cite news | title = Texas 17th District - Flores vs. Edwards | date = 2010-10-24 | url = http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/house/tx/texas_17th_district_flores_vs_edwards-1277.html | work = [[Real Clear Politics]] | access-date = 2010-10-24 | quote = Likely GOP}}</ref>

On November 2, 2010, Edwards was heavily defeated, taking 37 percent of the vote to Flores's 62 percent. He lost his home county of McLennan.<ref name=TXSOS10>{{cite news | title = 2010 General Election, Election Night Returns, Unofficial Elections Results As Of: 11/3/2010 12:14:58 PM | date = 2010-11-03 | url = http://enr.sos.state.tx.us/enr/results/nov02_154_state.htm?x=0&y=3608&id=179 | work = Texas Secretary of State | access-date = 2010-11-22 }}{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/politics/7276047.html| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101112090455/http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/politics/7276047.html| archive-date = 2010-11-12| title = Chet Edwards ousted after 20 years in Congress {{!}} AP Texas Politics {{!}} Chron.com - Houston Chronicle}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Chet Edwards ousted after 20 years in Congress |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]] |url=http://www.kxxv.com/global/story.asp?s=13433237 |newspaper=[[KXXV]] |date=November 2, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313142731/http://www.kxxv.com/global/story.asp?s=13433237 |archive-date=March 13, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This was the largest margin of defeat for a Democratic incumbent in the 2010 cycle. Edwards's term ended on January 3, 2011.