The congressional district of Texas 22nd has been in news recently. It has attracted the attention of the people across the world as the constituency held two elections on the same day. This was mainly because the House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who represented the constituency, withdrew from the election after winning the primary. The leader retired mainly as a result of allegations made on him on charges of corruption. As there was a need to fill the seat vacated by the leader for his unexpired term, a special election was held.

The special elections of the Texas 22nd district saw Shelley Sekula-Gibbs win as a write-in candidate for the unexpired term of the republican leader Tom DeLay. Sekula-Gibbs was sworn in on November 13. Sekula-Gibbs’ situation is similar to one experienced by Congressman Neil Abercrombie, who won a special election in September 1986, while simultaneously losing the primary election for a full term in Hawaii's 1st congressional district. He, thus, was elected to a term of a few short months, though he was later elected in 1990 and has held the seat since.

In the following general election there were three main candidates: Democrat and former US Representative Nick Lampson, Libertarian Party candidate Bob Smither, and Republican Sekula-Gibbs. Only Lampson's and Smither's names appeared on the ballot, as Shelley Sekula-Gibbs had to run as a write-in candidate. In this race, Lampson captured 52% of the vote, to Sekula-Gibbs' 42%, and Smither collected 6%.

This year, the candidates standing for election in this district include known names like former Sugar Land mayor Dean Hrbacek , former Pasadena mayor John Manlove, former John Cornyn Chief of Staff Pete Olson, Family District Judge Jim Squier, State Representative Bob Talton, and NASA contractor Ryan Rowley. Dean Hrbacek is a former Councilman and Mayor of Sugar Land, a business attorney, board certified in tax law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and a Certified Public Accountant.