AUSTIN – Heading into the 2018 election cycle, it’s easy to fixate on the big statewide races like, who will emerge to challenge Gov. Greg Abbott for a second term or whether the looming Ted Cruz-Beto O’Rourke matchup for U.S. Senate will bring the national spotlight to Texas.

But what might be just as consequential, or perhaps more so, is the less-noticed coming brain-drain in the Texas congressional delegation.

When all the votes are counted on Nov. 6, Texas will have no fewer than eight new members of Congress headed to Washington, D.C. That’s nearly one-fourth of the state’s entire delegation to the U.S. House, and it’s a turnover rate that hasn’t seen in Texas for quite awhile.

And the number could grow because the eight congress members we know who are not coming back opted not to seek re-election. Voters, both in the March 6 primaries and in November, could opt not to send a few more back.

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The coming retirements include Texas’ three most senior members – Republicans Joe Barton of North Texas, Lamar Smith of San Antonio and Sam Johnson of the Dallas area. Democrat Gene Green of Houston is tied for fourth in seniority among Texas’ 36 House members.

Barton, a 34-year House veteran who chose to retire after lewd photos of him were posted on the internet, is considered one of Congress’ most authoritative voices on energy policy. That’s a big plus when you represent the nation’s largest energy-producing state.

Johnson, a retired Air Force pilot who flew missions in Korea and Vietnam – and was held prisoner in Hanoi for nearly seven years, has been in Congress since 1991. At 87, he’s the second-oldest member of the House. During his military career, Johnson was awarded two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, one Bronze Star with Valor and two Purple Hearts.

Smith, who chairs the House Science Committee, will end his career with 30 years of Washington service under his belt. He is a favorite of both social and fiscal conservatives. But he has earned the scorn of progressives for resisting any policy that suggests human responsibility for climate change.

The most senior Democrat to pack it in this cycle is Green, a congressman since 1991 and before that a member of the Texas Senate for eight years. Green is considered a reliable vote for liberal causes but he was not among the 58 House Democrats who sought to advance articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.

The only other Democrat to voluntarily decide to leave the House is not abandoning his political career. Instead, El Paso’s O’Rourke is giving up what is considered a safe seat for his party to challenge Cruz’s bid for a second term in the Senate.

In fact, all of the seats being vacated by incumbents, including the Coastal Bend district held by scandal-tarred Blake Farenthold and Republicans Jeb Hensarling of Dallas and Houston’s Ted Poe, are considered safe by the party that currently holds them.

Still, Democrats at least publicly say they they’ll have competitive candidates in several of them, including Smith’s and Barton’s.

The last time Texas saw anywhere near as high a turnover rate in its congressional delegation was during the 2004 election cycle when six freshman members from the Lone Star State were sent to Washington. That was back when Texas had but 32 congressional seats.

But 2004 could be considered an anomaly. During the 2003 legislative session – and several subsequent special sessions – then-U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay persuaded legislative Republicans to force through a special redistricting process designed to break the Democrats’ last hold on political power in Texas.

Even though state Democratic lawmakers tried to stop the effort by leaving the – twice – to break quorums in both the House and the Senate, DeLay prevailed in the end. The newly drawn districts sent several senior Democrats into retirement the GOP has ruled the delegation ever since.

John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him atJohn.Moritz@caller.com and follow him on Twitter@JohnnieMo.