Editing Chet Edwards (section)

==Political campaigns==
Edwards was elected to the U.S. House in 1990 with 54 percent of the vote in what was then the [[Texas's 11th congressional district|11th District]], defeating Republican Hugh Shine. He was re-elected in 1992 with 67 percent of the vote, defeating Republican James Broyles. He defeated Broyles again in 1994 with 59 percent of the vote.<ref name="WPprofile">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/elections/2004/candidates/22199/ |title=Washington Post profile of Chet Edwards, 2004 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=August 6, 2008}}</ref>

During the 1990s, like much of rural Texas, the 11th District trended increasingly Republican. Edwards was able to hold onto his seat, though with shrinking margins.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=1750 |title= Edwards, T. Chester "Chet" |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date = 2007-03-25}}</ref> In 1996, he was re-elected with 57 percent of the vote against Republican Jay Mathis. He won in 1998 without any Republican opponent. In 2000 he won with 55 percent of the vote over Ramsey Farley; in 2002, he beat Farley again, this time with 52 percent of the vote.<ref name="WPprofile"/> In 2000, he became President Bush's congressman; the district includes [[Prairie Chapel Ranch]] just outside [[Crawford, Texas|Crawford]], which was Bush's legal residence during his presidential term.

As part of the [[2003 Texas redistricting]], Edwards' district was renumbered as the [[Texas's 17th congressional district|17th District]] and radically altered. The ethnically diverse cities of [[Temple, Texas|Temple]] and [[Killeen, Texas|Killeen]] were removed, as was the Army post of [[Fort Hood]]. In their place, his district absorbed [[College Station, Texas|College Station]], home to Texas A&M and a long-standing bastion of conservatism. It also absorbed some heavily Republican territory near [[Fort Worth]]. While Edwards' old district had been trending Republican for some time, the new district was, on paper, one of the most Republican districts in the country. Edwards defeated conservative [[Texas House|State Representative]] [[Arlene Wohlgemuth]] in November 2004 by 9,260 votes, or approximately a 3.8% margin. Proving just how Republican the new 17th district was, Bush carried it with a staggering 70 percent of the vote—the most of any Democratic-held district, and Bush's 17th-best district in the entire country. Edwards was one of two Democrats to represent a significant portion of the [[Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex]] in Congress, along with [[Eddie Bernice Johnson]]. In much of the district, Edwards was the only elected Democrat above the county level. It was generally understood that he would be succeeded by a Republican when he retired.

In 2006, Edwards ran for reelection against Republican [[Van Taylor]], a former Marine Corps reservist and Iraq War veteran, and was re-elected with 58% of the vote to Taylor's 40%.<ref name="CNN">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/states/TX/H/17/ |title=U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES / TEXAS 17 |publisher=CNN |access-date = 2007-03-25}}</ref>

[[Image:Chet Edwards DNC 2008.jpg|thumb|right|Edwards speaks during the third night of the [[2008 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Denver, Colorado]].]]
On February 18, 2008, Edwards officially endorsed [[Barack Obama]] in the Texas March 4 Democratic primary.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2008/02/chet_edwards_endorses_barack_o.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707225224/http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2008/02/chet_edwards_endorses_barack_o.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 7, 2012|title=Chet Edwards Endorses Barack Obama|work=[[Houston Chronicle]]|first=Patrick|last=Brendel|date=February 18, 2008|access-date=November 22, 2010}}</ref> In late June 2008, Speaker of the House [[Nancy Pelosi]] publicly suggested that Edwards would be a great choice as Obama's vice-presidential [[running mate]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/video/2008/06/24/tamcam-exclusive-speaker-pelosi.html|title=TamCam Exclusive: Speaker Pelosi|work=[[Newsweek]]|first=Tammy|last=Haddad|date=June 24, 2010|access-date=November 22, 2010}}</ref> Edwards stated that he would accept such an offer from Obama.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theeagle.com/local/Edwards-would-take-VP-offer|archive-url=https://archive.today/20081007233534/http://www.theeagle.com/local/Edwards-would-take-VP-offer|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 7, 2008|title=Edwards would take VP offer|work=[[The Bryan-College Station Eagle|The Eagle]]|first=Matthew|last=Watkins|date=June 3, 2010|access-date=November 22, 2010}}</ref> On August 22, the [[Associated Press]] reported that Edwards was on Obama's short-list as a potential running-mate.<ref name="Obama prepares to name veep"/>

===2008===
{{See also|2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas#District 17}}
In November 2008, Edwards was reelected, defeating Republican Rob Curnock, a [[Waco, Texas|Waco]] video business owner, with 53 percent of the vote.<ref>David Doerr, [http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/01/03/01032008waccurnock.html?imw=Y "Republican, two Libertarians file to vie with Democrat Edwards for congressional seat"]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''Waco Tribune-Herald'', January 3, 2008</ref> [[John McCain]] carried the 17th with 67 percent of the vote.

===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.