Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) is headed toward a primary battle with Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) after deciding he will campaign to represent a different House district if the one he represents is redrawn.
Texas’s 35th Congressional District, which Casar represents, is one of five that would be directly affected by Republicans’ attempt to redraw the congressional map to help the GOP win more House seats in Texas.
Given that the redistricting efforts are likely to be approved by the Republican-controlled state legislature in the coming months, Casar will seek to switch districts and run in Texas’s 37th Congressional District, which Doggett represents but will have been redrawn to include territory currently within the 35th district, according to Punchbowl News.
Casar’s decision comes as the newly proposed 35th district contains Republican-friendly territory and little of the area Casar represents in Austin.
“Other than the fact that Republicans arbitrarily assigned this seat the same number as Greg’s current one, there’s no reason it would makes sense for Greg to run in that district — fewer than 10% of Greg’s constituents would be in it, and it does not include any part of Austin, the city Greg has called home since college and represented for the past decade,” Casar’s chief of staff wrote in an email this week.
“In contrast, the merged Austin seat would include all of Greg’s old city council district and nearly 250,000 of the people he currently represents,” the email continues.
Casar’s move to switch districts pits him against Doggett, who has pledged to stay in his district even though its boundaries are being redrawn.
Doggett previously urged Casar to stay in his district, putting him at odds with his Democratic colleague ahead of the 2026 primary.
Casar staffers pledged this week that there would be no change of course.
“Whatever happens, he will be running for reelection in Austin,” his team said.
The redistricting drama sparked weeks ago when Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) called a special legislative session to discuss redistricting efforts, which Republicans hope will net them five House seats.
TEXAS REPUBLICANS PLAN FOR SECOND SPECIAL SESSION FOR REDISTRICTING STARTING NEXT WEEK
The districts being redrawn to favor Republicans include those represented by Reps. Marc Veasey (D-TX), Julie Johnson (D-TX), Al Green (D-TX), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), and Henry Cuellar (D-TX), as well as Casar and Doggett.
Although state Democrats have attempted to stall the debate, leaving Texas altogether to stave off a vote on the matter, the redistricting effort will likely eventually pass due to Republican dominance in the state.
