A map of the districts whose House members received committee chairs last week provides an interesting birds-eye view of influence in the chamber, especially within the Republican caucus. The districts with Republican chairman, colored in red, are spread overwhelmingly spread across suburban and ex-urban counties, with a light touch in some rural areas, though more in the lower plains regions (Keffer in District 60, S. King in District 71, and Darby in District 72) than in either the east Texas piney woods or the far West. The large gaps in GOP chairs in Texas' major urban areas highlights Democratic dominance in the districts within the state's major cities, as does the presence of Democratic chairs in those areas (e.g. Thompson in Districts 14, Duton in District 142, Alvaredo in District 145, and Coleman in District 147). (You can click on the legend to toggle off one party or the other to clearly see the urban/non-urban split.) Outside of former Democrat J.M. Lozano in District 43, the chairs are all blue in South Texas – not a big surprise, either.

Chairs of Texas House Committees in the 84th Legislature

With fewer seats, fewer committees, and larger districts, the geographic dimensions of partisanship are less clear in the map showing the distribution of Senate chairs, though no one is likely to conclude that the Republican Party is an urban powerhouse looking at this map, either.  

Chairs of Texas Senate Committees in the 84th Legislature