 Gulfton is located in District 137 of the Texas House of Representatives and represented by Gene Wu since 2013. Gulfton is within District 17 of the Texas Senate and represented by Joan Huffman since 2009. In May 1991, Marc Campos of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, expressed concerns that proposed state senate redistricting plans would deliberately re-draw Texas Senate, District 15 to ensure the re-election of John Whitmire. He felt this would hamper the possible election of Hispanic representatives. Campos cited the inclusion of Gulfton in Whitmire's district would dilute Hispanic voting strength, since many Gulfton residents are not eligible to vote due to a lack of citizenship. A May 15, 1991 Houston Chronicle article reported that some people did not want to see Gulfton included in a mostly Hispanic Texas Senate district citing fears that the residents might not vote. During the afternoon of May 1, 2010, 7,000 people protested Arizona's SB 1070 bill along Bellaire Boulevard and Chimney Rock in Gulfton.
