Long-time Austin Congressman Lloyd Doggett said he will not seek reelection if the newly drawn congressional map moving through the Texas Legislature goes into effect.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Doggett said he would, "prefer to devote the coming months to fighting Trump tyranny and serving Austin rather than waging a struggle with fellow Democrats."
Republicans hope the proposed map will give their party five more seats in Congress. To do that, among other changes, the new map would eliminate one of the two Democrat-held seats in Travis County. That would force Rep. Doggett and Rep. Greg Casar into a showdown for the remaining seat that represents Austin.
Gov. Greg Abbott called a special legislative session for Texas lawmakers this summer to change the congressional map after President Trump said he wanted five more GOP seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Those races for seats in the U.S. House are expected to be contentious, with some political analysts predicting the chamber will flip back to Democratic control. That would allow Democrats to block the president's agenda.
The effort was delayed earlier this summer when Democrats in the Texas House fled the state and stalled all legislative action. The Texas constitution requires two-thirds of House members to be in attendance for work to happen. Without Democrats, the chamber lacked the quorum needed to vote on congressional redistricting or any other bills.
Democrats returned to Texas this week, guaranteeing the Republican drawn congressional map would be debated and approved by the GOP majority. But during the Democrats' absence, California Gov. Gavin Newsom began a redistricting effort in his state for five additional seats that are expected to be won by Democrats, nullifying any gains made by the GOP in Texas.
Doggett said he would run for reelection if courts delay or overturn the map for the 2026 midterm elections. But if that doesn't happen, he wishes "Congressman Casar the best."
Doggett's time as an elected official stretches back to the 1970s when he represented Austin as a state senator. He's been a member of the U.S. House since winning an election in 1994.
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