AUSTIN, Texas — Democrat Greg Casar will replace U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett as the representative for U.S. House District 35 following his win over Republican Dan McQueen on Tuesday night. District 35 covers East Austin and stretches down into Hays, Comal and Bexar counties.
Meanwhile, fellow Democrat Doggett won his race against Republican Jenny Garcia Sharon and Libertarian Clark Patterson in U.S. House District 37. Doggett announced last year he would leave District 35 to run for the newly created District 37 in the heart of Austin. The district is one of two new Texas seats in the U.S. House of Representatives thanks to the state’s explosive growth.
On Tuesday night, Doggett and Casar took part in a watch party at East Austin’s Hotel Vegas. They were joined by Travis County District Attorney José Garza and Executive Director of the Austin Justice Coalition Chas Moore.
"We won this race on a bold, progressive, unapologetic platform that we’re taking all the way to the U.S. Congress," Casar said Tuesday night. "Together, we can tackle the real problems that people are facing – we can unionize our workplaces, win good paying jobs, invest in affordable housing, restore abortion rights, tackle the climate crisis, and so much more. Texas is not a red state. We are an under-organized state – and today’s win demonstrates how our movement can build long-term power. This is only the beginning, because I’m not headed to Congress by myself. I’m taking our movement for Texas working families with me."
Republicans McQueen and Sharon faced slim chances of winning the safely Democratic districts. District 35 has been represented by Doggett since its creation in 2013. Sharon was the Republican candidate for U.S. House Texas District 35 in 2020, but lost to Doggett in the general election, with 30% of the vote to Doggett’s 65%. Under the district’s new borders following the latest redistricting map, it’s estimated Joe Biden would have won there by 46 percentage points in 2020
In District 37, President Joe Biden would have won by 53 percentage points based on the 2020 partisan makeup.
In an interview with KVUE’s Ashley Goudeau prior to the election, Casar described himself as a “progressive fighter” who wanted to bring Medicare for all, a $15 an hour minimum wage, reproductive rights and a functional electric grid.
“You know, what we've seen in these last couple of years is this assault on reproductive rights from the Legislature, when we should have been working on keeping people in their jobs and saving lives in the pandemic,” he said in the interview. “We've seen voter suppression tactics when people were freezing in their homes and needed help, fixing the power grid.”
Doggett told KVUE’s media partners at the Austin American-Statesman he was motivated to run for District 37 because of a personal connection.
“The opportunity to once again represent the neighborhoods that I grew up in, that I’ve lived in and worked in for most of my life in the city that is the only city that I’ve ever called home – that really is very appealing,” Doggett told the Statesman.
McQueen served as the mayor of Corpus Christi for 37 days, from 2016 to 2017, before resigning. He also ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Missouri but withdrew before the Republican primary on Aug. 2, 2021.
McQueen recently touted what he calls the “AeroTae’ Sky-Jump flying motorcycle,” a personal flying vehicle he says could be used to fly above traffic. In February, McQueen told Texas Monthly he had been working on the AeroTae’ design for four to five years and built prototypes, none of which have taken flight.
According to her campaign website, Sharon was born and raised in Houston. She campaigned on issues such as opposing abortion, strengthening Second Amendment rights and building a border wall.
District 10
(Bastrop, Fayette, Lee, Travis, Williamson counties)
Republican incumbent Michael McCaul defeated Democrat Linda Nuno and Libertarian Bill Kelsey.
District 11
(Llano, Mason counties)
Republican incumbent August Pfluger will keep his seat after running unopposed.
District 17
(Williamson County)
Republican incumbent Pete Sessions defeated Democrat Mary Jo Woods.
District 21
(Blanco, Gillespie, Hays, Travis counties)
Republican incumbent Chip Roy defeated Democrat Claudia Andreana Zapata.
District 27
(Bastrop, Caldwell counties)
Republican incumbent Michael Cloud defeated Democrat Maclovio Perez Jr.
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