WASHINGTON -- The new Congress is convening and a Texan will be among its new members.

PETE OLSON

Republican Pete Olson is the only freshman in the 32-member delegation in the U.S. House. He is to be sworn in with other new members on Tuesday in a noon ceremony.

Olson will stretch the numbers of Republicans in the House from Texas to 20. But he’s joining the Congress after a rough election year for the GOP. Democrats hold 21 more seats in this Congress than they did at the end of the previous Congress.

Olson holds the seat that once belonged to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Democrat Nick Lampson won the seat in 2006 when DeLay left the House amid legal troubles. Olson of Sugar Land defeated him in November.