Denton Mayor Gerard Hudspeth traveled to Austin on Friday to testify in support of the GOP’s rare mid-decade congressional redistricting efforts, which would add five Republican-leaning seats to the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I went in personal & future candidate capacity,” Hudspeth said in an email Monday to the Denton Record-Chronicle. “The city is in no way related.”
The Denton mayoral position is supposed to be nonpartisan. In the last municipal election, council candidates did their best to keep it nonpartisan, unlike previous elections.
Hudspeth’s third and final term as mayor ends in May. He is challenging Denton County Commissioner Dianne Edmondson for her Precinct 4 seat in the March 2026 Republican primaries.
Texas leaders last redrew the maps in 2021. District maps are redrawn every decade for the Texas House of Representatives, Texas Senate, Texas Board of Education and Texas’ congressional districts after the U.S. census has been completed.
Redrawing the maps could affect portions of Denton County.
In his testimony Friday, Hudspeth said the redrawing the maps would give voters in and around Denton an opportunity to elect another Republican member of Congress.
“It’s been my personal experience that the citizens in my area want representatives who reflect Republican values,” Hudspeth told members of the Texas House Committee on Congressional Redistricting. “We support increasing opportunities for electing Republican representatives to Congress.”
On Saturday, Hudspeth posted about his trip to Austin on his Facebook campaign page, Gerard for Denton, calling the Republicans’ plan one “that reflects the growth, strength, and values of Denton County and protects the voice of conservative voters across our state.”
He added that Democrats and out-of-state liberal activists “are trying to use lawfare to stop Texas from choosing its destiny” and said they are “not interested in fair representation.”
“As Mayor of Denton, I’ve seen firsthand the explosive growth across our county, and this redistricting map reflects that growth while respecting our shared values,” Hudspeth wrote in his post. “It keeps our communities intact and strengthens our ability to defend faith, family, freedom and fiscal responsibility in Austin. I’m proud to support a map that keeps Texas red, and I’ll keep fighting for fair representation, election integrity and conservative leadership.”
The city of Denton — and the University of North Texas campus with it — is split into two U.S. House districts. In the last round of redistricting that went into effect in 2023, Texas’ 13th Congressional District was redrawn to include Krum and the northern, central and southeastern parts of Denton.
The mostly rural District 13 stretches from Denton to the Texas Panhandle, encompassing 36 whole counties and portions of Wise and Denton counties. Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson’s Texas offices are in Amarillo and Wichita Falls, with an appointment-only satellite office in Denton.
The southwestern part of Denton is part of Texas’ Congressional District 26, which covers much less territory. Republican Rep. Brandon Gill’s district includes much of Denton County, all of Cooke County and portions of Wise and Tarrant counties.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, based on 2021 estimates, District 13’s population density is 22 people per square mile, less than Texas’ average of 113, while the more urban District 26 has 407 people per square mile.
In the Denton County commissioner’s race, Hudspeth said in a Facebook post in late July that he was leading in contributions and cash on hand. In his July 15 campaign filings, Hudspeth reported $85,680 in total political contributions compared to Edmondson’s $46,850.
Hudspeth’s largest campaign contributions was $25,000 from Brian Irwin of Irwin Steel, $10,000 from G. Brint Ryan of Dallas tax consulting firm Ryan LLC, and $5,000 each from TCCI Land Development, Mark Hicks from Hicks Lighting Protection in Ponder and Lucy Billingsley, a Dallas real estate mogul.
Another notable contribution was $17,030 from Gerard Hudspeth for Mayor Campaign.
At the hearing in Austin on Friday, Hudspeth stressed that redrawing the maps would create “more compact districts, keep communities together and increase the number of majority-minority districts, specifically adding one Hispanic majority district and two Black majority districts.”
“At this important time in history, Texas must do everything we can, and this bill is an important step,” Hudspeth said. “And I’ll say that as the first Black mayor elected to the city of Denton.”