page_title: Chet Edwards
section_title: Political campaigns
hierarchical_section_title: Chet Edwards / Political campaigns
caption_attribution_description: English: Chet Edwards speaks during the third night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
context_page_description: Thomas Chester Edwards is an American politician who was a United States Representative from Texas, representing a district based in Waco, from 1991 to 2011. Previously, he served in the Texas Senate from 1983 to 1990. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Edwards was on Barack Obama's vice presidential shortlist in 2008.
context_section_description: Edwards was elected to the U.S. House in 1990 with 54 percent of the vote in what was then the 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.
  During the 1990s, like much of rural Texas, the 11th District trended more and more Republican. Edwards was able to hold onto his seat, though with shrinking margins. 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. In 2000, he became President Bush's congressman; the district includes Prairie Chapel Ranch just outside Crawford, which was Bush's legal residence during his presidential term.
  As part of the 2003 Texas redistricting, Edwards' district was renumbered as the 17th District and radically altered. The ethnically diverse cities of Temple and Killeen were removed, as was the Army post of Fort Hood. In their place, his district absorbed College Station, home to Texas A&M and a long-standing bastion of conservatism. It also absorbed several heavily Republican areas 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 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, along with Eddie Bernice Johnson. In much of this district, Edwards was the only elected Democrat above the county level. It was generally understood that Edwards 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%.
  On February 18, 2008, Edwards officially endorsed Barack Obama in the Texas March 4 Democratic primary. 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. Edwards stated that he would accept such an offer from Obama. On August 22, the Associated Press reported that Edwards was on Obama's short-list as a potential running-mate.
caption: Edwards speaks during the third night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
exif: {"Image Make": "CASIO COMPUTER CO.,LTD.", "Image Model": "EX-Z1080", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "QuickTime 7.5", "Image DateTime": "2009:05:22 15:58:00", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.5.4", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "260", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "34334", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5797", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "51/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:08:27 05:19:55", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:08:27 05:19:55", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "27040/9747", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "237/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3648", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2736", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0/0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "114", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}