Texas Democrats are fretting over a probable main battle between Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) and Greg Casar (D-Texas) as Republicans transfer towards passing a brand new congressional map that pits the 2 incumbents in opposition to one another.
The proposed map, which provides Texas Republicans 5 congressional seats, attracts the 2 Democratic lawmakers into one Austin-area district. A matchup would pit the 78-year-old Doggett, who was the primary Home Democrat to name on former President Biden to drop his presidential bid final 12 months, in opposition to the 36-year-old Casar, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
However in what many Democrats name an ironic twist, Doggett is pushing for Casar to run within the newly redrawn thirty fifth district. The transfer was perceived by some Texas Democrats as Doggett waving the white flag within the redistricting battle earlier than the brand new map was formally handed by the state legislature.
Moreover, Democrats are voicing considerations that an unpleasant main would solely search to profit Republicans and drain sources that Democrats might be utilizing elsewhere within the state subsequent 12 months.
In an interview with The Hill on Friday, Doggett known as on Casar to “explain to voters why I should be ousted and why he is surrendering the district to Trump.”
“It’s certainly a battle that is unfortunate to divide Democrats at a time when we need to be united against Trump,” Doggett stated. “But I don’t see it as having to be a particularly mean race.”
Nonetheless, when requested whether or not he plans to spend the $6.2 million he has within the financial institution, Dogget stated he plans to make use of the sources he has and to be “victorious.”
“That money was raised for my reelection and I plan to use it as necessary,” he stated.
The backwards and forwards ensued earlier this week when Doggett argued in an e-mail to supporters that the brand new thirty fifth district could be primarily based in San Antonio, relatively than Austin. Doggett can also be claiming that Casar may assist sway San Antonio’s 57 p.c Hispanic inhabitants.
However in an e-mail to Casar’s supporters obtained by The Hill, his chief of workers Stephanie Trinh wrote that Casar’s “focus right now is on fighting the maps and supporting our state legislators who have bravely left the state to slow down Republicans” and that Doggett despatched his e-mail to supporters with out consulting Casar or his group.
“Other than the fact that Republicans arbitrarily assigned this seat the same number as Greg’s current one, there’s no reason it would make sense for Greg to run in that district,” Trinh wrote, noting that the merged Austin-based thirty seventh district would come with almost 250,000 of Casar’s present constituents and his former metropolis council seat.
Casar at present represents the state’s thirty fifth congressional district, which incorporates components of the San Antonio metro space, in addition to components of Austin. Doggett represents the thirty seventh district, which incorporates the vast majority of the town of Austin and a few of its suburbs.
Beneath the proposed new maps, the thirty seventh congressional district would grow to be extra Democratic whereas the brand new thirty fifth district would grow to be extra conservative and embody lower than 10 p.c of Casar’s present constituents. The brand new thirty seventh district would come with roughly two-thirds of Doggett’s constituents, whereas the remainder would come from Casar’s Austin-area constituency, together with his former metropolis council seat that he held from 2015 to 2022.
Casar’s supporters word that Doggett has been in Congress for 30 years, having represented the tenth, twenty fifth, thirty fifth and thirty seventh districts all through his tenure.
Veteran Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha known as Doggett’s insistence on working within the newly redrawn thirty seventh district and pushing for Casar to run within the new thirty fifth district “so ironic,” given Doggett’s calls final 12 months for Biden to drop his presidential bid amid questions on his age and health to serve in workplace.
“There’s been frustration, especially after what we lived through after the last election cycle, with candidates not knowing the time to open the door to the next generation,” Rocha advised The Hill.
“This would be an easy way for Lloyd to step down,” he added.
These frustrations come as Democrats as a celebration grapple with the problem of age following Biden’s choice to step down final 12 months and the demise of various Democratic lawmakers, who’ve just lately died in workplace.
Democratic activist David Hogg, whose group Leaders We Deserve is devoted to electing younger Democrats, stated Doggett ought to “take his own advice and pass the torch.”
“Thanks to Governor Abbott being a feckless Trump lackey, two incredible progressives might have to fight over the Austin seat,” Hogg said in a statement to The Hill. “Greg Casar is 36 and Lloyd Doggett is 78. This isn’t complicated, Lloyd should take his own advice and pass the torch instead of tearing down the youngest-ever Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.”
However Doggett stated his subject with Biden working in 2024 didn’t need to do with the previous president’s age, however “an electability problem” and a poor debate efficiency in opposition to Trump.
“There were many people who were more worried about their careers and offending the Democratic Party establishment who didn’t say a word,” the congressman stated. “The fact that I was not starting a career was, I think, an asset in being able to speak truth to power even within my own party.”
Doggett can also be arguing that the brand new thirty fifth district presents a possibility for Casar, given its giant Latino inhabitants.
“[The new district] is a district that is much more Hispanic than the one he has today, 57 percent Hispanic,” Doggett stated. “He is the incumbent. He has the power to bring all of his talent and his resources to bear on this district and demonstrate that we don’t have to surrender it to Trump.”
However Casar’s allies within the Latino and Hispanic neighborhood, together with within the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, are able to defend him.
“Suggesting Greg Casar abandon Austin for another district just because of its Hispanic population is insulting and out of touch,” one Latino Democratic strategist advised The Hill. “Lloyd Doggett should be fighting Republican gerrymandering, not telling one of Congress’s most effective progressive Latinos to step aside from the community he was elected to serve.”
Rocha stated the topic has been “a hot topic in the Latino leaders group chat.”
“I think there is almost a 100-percent consensus that he will have robust support,” Rocha stated.
