Former member of Congress · last served 111th Congress
Chet Edwards
Chet Edwards was a Democratic U.S. representative from Texas, first elected to Congress in 1991, who sponsored 6 bills that became law (102nd–111th Congress).
How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.
Recent votes
No recorded roll-call votes in PORKER’s records. Roll-call records start in 2011.
5 most recent bills
- H.R. 3082 Continuing Appropriations and Surface Transportation Extensions Act, 2011Dec 22, 2010 · Became Public Law No: 111-322.
- H.R. 6027 Protect Our Children Act of 2010Sep 20, 2010 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
- H.Res. 1450 Congratulating the Texas A&M University Aggies for winning the men's and women's NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship.Sep 13, 2010 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness.
- H.Res. 1437 Congratulating the McLennan Community College Highlanders men's golf team for winning the 2010 NJCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship.Sep 13, 2010 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness.
- H.R. 6096 Reduce Our Deficits ActAug 10, 2010 · Referred to House Natural Resources
Top bills sponsored
- H.R. 5491 (102nd) To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Marlin, Texas, as the "Thomas T. Connally Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center".Became law
- H.R. 3720 (110th) To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 424 Clay Avenue in Waco, Texas, as the "Army PFC Juan Alonso Covarrubias Post Office…Became law
- H.R. 3721 (110th) To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1190 Lorena Road in Lorena, Texas, as the "Marine Gunnery Sgt. John D. Fry Post…Became law
- H.R. 2642 (110th) Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008Became law
- H.R. 1925 (107th) To direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating the Waco Mammoth Site Area in Waco, Texas, as a unit of the…Became law
- H.R. 3418 (109th) Central Texas Water Recycling Act of 2006Passed a chamber
- H.R. 1376 (111th) Waco Mammoth National Monument Establishment Act of 2009Passed a chamber
- H.R. 5822 (111th) Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2011Passed a chamber
Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.
Elections Rep. Edwards has won
Rep. Edwards has won 10 U.S. House elections (1990–2008). Of the contested races, margins ran from 3.8 to 64.9 points.
Full election history for this seat →
Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.
How has Texas’s 17th district done while Rep. Edwards served?
2005 to 2010 in TX-17: typical household income was about the same after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was about the same, and the share of workers looking for a job was about the same.
Each mini chart has its own scale, fitted to its lines (it does not start at zero), so compare the numbers, not the heights. Teal = district, oxblood = state, grey = U.S.
While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Texas’s 17th district during Edwards’s time representing it (2005 to 2011). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.
One set of district lines. TX-17 was redrawn in 2012 and again in 2022 (the survey year the new lines first appear), but every survey year in Edwards’s term so far (2005 to 2010) uses the same lines, so they can be compared. The Census Bureau has no 2020 yearly estimate.
Official records on bills this member sponsored
111th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 16 bills sponsored.
| Record | Bills | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bills sponsored | 16 | Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them → |
| With a sponsor’s constitutional-authority statement | 0 | None listed |
| With a CBO cost estimate listed | 2 | See the 2 → |
| With a committee report listed | 3 | See the 3 → |
| With a Congress.gov note | 1 | See the 1 → |
Evidence
- How counted
- Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 111th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
- Fields
- cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
- PORKER copy refreshed
- October 26, 2026 (nightly)
Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.
Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.