Chet Edwards Biographical Information Congressman

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.

District

The 17th Congressional District comprises Bosque, Brazos, Grimes, Hill, Hood, Johnson, Madison, McLennan and Somervell counties as well as parts of Burleson, Limestone and Robertson counties. The largest county by population in the 17th is McLennan county, which houses Waco. The total population of the district is 651,620, 113,726 of which live in Waco ("McLennan County, Incorporated Cities"). Waco is a major hub for government in central Texas and is also a primary distribution and transportation hub for the region. Agribusiness and education are also primary sources of economic growth for the 17th congressional district. The region produces beef cattle, dairy cows and turkeys as well as crops such as corn, red wheat, cotton, hay, grain sorghums, and peanuts ("McLennan County Almanac Information"; "The 17th Congressional District of Texas"). Baylor University and Texas A&M University, both "Big XII" schools, are located in the 17th. Texas A&M is the third largest university in the nation ("The 17th Congressional District of Texas"). Both Texas A&M and Baylor are major employers in the district, bolstering its economy.

10.8% of the population in the 17th Congressional district is African-American, and Hispanics comprise 15.4% ("The 17th Congressional District of Texas"). Both these figures are slower than the state numbers: 11.5% of Texans are African-American whereas 32% of Texans are Hispanic ("Texas," U.S. Census Bureau).

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.