Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) launched his reelection bid in the state’s newly redrawn Austin-area 37th Congressional District on Monday.
“I love Austin, Texas so damn much. This is where I started my career,” Casar said in a launch video. “I may not have millions in the bank or decades of connections, but what I do have is you and we’re not going anywhere.”
The congressman also released a list of endorsements from various Texas Democrats.
Casar’s campaign said in a statement that if the recently passed Republican-drawn congressional maps are in place for the election, he will run in the district. Last week the Republican-controlled Texas legislature passed the maps, sending them to Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R ) desk to be signed into law.
Casar’s campaign launch comes after Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) announced that if the courts approve the Republican congressional maps in Texas, he will not seek reelection in the redrawn 37th Congressional District.
The proposed map, which gives Texas Republicans five congressional seats, draws Doggett and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) into the same Austin-area district.
A match-up would have pitted the 78-year-old Doggett, who was the first House Democrat to call on former President Biden to drop his presidential bid last year, against the 36-year-old Casar, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Doggett had previously been pushing Casar to run in the redrawn 35th Congressional District.
