Chet Edwards (born November 24, 1951), American politician, is the Democratic congressman who has represented the Texas 17th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2005. He previously represented the 11th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2005 when he had to switch districts due to redistricting(map). A resident of Waco, his seat includes the town of Crawford, which makes him President Bush's Congressman. Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, he received his bachelor's degree in economics from Texas A&M University and his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Edwards was elected to the Texas State Senate in 1981, serving until 1991 when he became Representative for the 11th district.
He is a member of the House Budget and Appropriations Committees, the Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee (of which he is the ranking member), and the Energy and Water Subcommittee. Edwards is one of only six House members to serve on both the Budget and Appropriations committees.
Starting in the 109th session of Congress, Rep. Edwards is one of only two House Democrats serving on three subcommittees, Military Quality of Life (formerly known as Military Construction), Energy and Water Development and Homeland Security.
Following Texas redistricting, Edwards was moved from the 11th to the 17th congressional district. He then won a close race in 2004 against Republican Arlene Wohlgemuth, winning by less than 10,000 votes. Edwards is the only Democrat who survived in office after Texas' 2004 congressional redistricting. He is currently running against former U.S. Marine and Republican congressional candidate Van Taylor.
