Texas's 22nd congressional district of the United States House of Representatives covers a largely suburban southwestern portion of the Greater Houston metropolitan area.

The district is represented by Republican Troy Nehls, who was elected in 2020 over two-time challenger Democrat Sri Preston Kulkarni.

From 1985 until 2006 the district was represented by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and before that, former Congressman and three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul briefly in 1976 and again from 1979 to 1985.

The Cook Partisan Voting Index, which derives its data from the two most recent presidential elections, gave the district a 10-point Republican lean compared to the national average until its 2021 review, when it was lowered to 4-points.

The new 7th would elect former Harris County Republican Party chairman (and future President) George H. W. Bush, while Casey's 22nd district was made the most compact of the three, stretching from southwest Houston to southeast Harris County, including Pasadena and Clear Lake City, and also encompassing the Johnson Space Center.

While Casey continued to win reelection in 1972 and 1974 without significant opposition, his resignation following his appointment to the Federal Maritime Commission in 1976, combined with increased suburban growth in the aforementioned counties, opened the door for a Republican upset in the special election that followed.

In 1980, Paul would go on to win a second term, defeating Democratic attorney Mike Andrews, a former Harris County prosecutor, by a narrow margin.

The district would remain unchanged through the rest of the decade, but changed its incumbent three times after Tom DeLay resigned on June 9, 2006 in the wake of corruption allegations related to the 2003 redistricting.

Additionally, the 22nd included a large slice of his former base; he'd previously represented much of the Galveston County portion of the district, as well as the area around the Johnson Space Center.

The suddenly competitive nature of the district, in part due to Trump's populist economic stances and especially his campaign and presidential rhetoric, resulted in Olson narrowly winning a sixth term in a surprisingly close race against Democrat Sri Preston Kulkarni fueled by Democratic coattails (mostly involving straight ticket voting) from the Senate campaign of Beto O'Rourke, who won Fort Bend County and narrowly lost the 22nd district in his unsuccessful, but close bid against incumbent Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

Olson retired after six terms, and Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls won another close race against Kulkarni.

[10] His successful campaign against Gammage surprised local Democrats, who had expected to retain the seat easily following the Watergate scandal of President Richard Nixon.

On January 2, 2006, Nick Lampson, a Jefferson County tax assessor-collector, filed as a Democrat to challenge incumbent Tom DeLay for the 2006 general election.

On April 3, 2006, three days after his former aide Tony Rudy pleaded guilty to various charges of corruption relating to the Jack Abramoff scandal, DeLay announced that he would withdraw from the race.

Texas Governor Rick Perry announced on August 29, 2006 that a special election would take place for the remainder of DeLay's term (November 2006 to January 2007).

Olson and Lampson faced each other in the November 4, 2008 general election, along with Libertarian candidate, Vietnam veteran, retired businessman, and community volunteer John Wieder.

Republican incumbent Pete Olson sought re-election and defeated Democrat Kesha Rogers, a LaRouche Movement supporter, in the general election on November 2, 2010.

Rogers was disavowed by some local Democrats for her controversial platform, which included impeaching President Barack Obama and colonizing outer space.

In the Democratic primary, several candidates competed for the nomination, including former diplomat Sri Preston Kulkarni, dentist Letitia Plummer, and 2016 nominee Mark Gibson.

No candidate won the Democratic nomination outright, leading to a run-off election between the top two finishers, Kulkarni and Plummer.

Kulkarni won the run-off with 62% of the vote, and faced Olson, Libertarian John McElligott, and independent candidate Sara Kellen Sweney in the general election.

Six-term incumbent Republican Pete Olson announced he would not seek re-election in 2020, opening up a competitive contest for both major parties.

[33] On the Democratic side, 2018 nominee Sri Preston Kulkarni won the nomination again in the March 3 primary, while on the Republican side a large number of candidates ran, including Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls, GOP donor Kathaleen Wall, and Pierce Bush, a member of the Bush family.

No candidate won the Republican primary outright, initiating a run-off contest between the top two finishers, Troy Nehls and Kathaleen Wall.

Nehls defeated Kulkarni in the November election for the seat, which also featured Libertarian candidate Joseph LeBlanc Jr.