Texas received an eighth congressional district through reapportionment in 1881 as a result of population growth reflected in the 1880 census and in 1883, James Francis Miller, a Democrat, was elected its first representative.

After the redistricting of 1902, the district shifted to Southeast Texas and the area outside of Houston and was represented by Congressmen from Huntsville, Hempstead and Richmond.

By the 1970s, the 8th district was beginning to move away from its traditional Democratic roots, and in 1980 it elected a Republican congressman, Jack Fields, over liberal seven-term incumbent Bob Eckhardt.

After the 1980 census, the 8th district was pushed further north to include conservative areas of northern Harris County (such as Fields' home in Humble) as well as the wealthier portions of Montgomery County, The 8th district's borders changed drastically in the 1990s round of redistricting, which was orchestrated by the Democratic-controlled state legislature as well as then-Congressman Martin Frost, the senior Democrat in the congressional delegation.

However, it changed dramatically during the 2003 redistricting plan engineered by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Republican from Texas's 22nd district.

In 2020, Brady fended off a primary challenge and won re-election against Democrat Elizabeth Hernandez and Libertarian Chris Duncan with 72.5% of the vote.

[4] in 2022, Kevin Brady, who eventually rose to become Chairman of the influential House Ways and Means Committee (where he notably shepherded the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017), announced his retirement from Congress.