78-Year-Old Democrat Makes Way For Rising Far-Left Star After Republicans Got Their Way With Redistricting

Longtime Democratic Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett announced Aug. 21 that he will not seek reelection in the state’s redrawn 37th congressional district following the GOP’s mid-decade redistricting push.

Doggett, 78, had said in a statement that he will not seek reelection after serving three decades in Congress if courts uphold Texas’ new Republican-favoring congressional map. Doggett’s announcement comes after he insisted for weeks that he intended to run in the redrawn 37th congressional district despite potentially facing a primary challenger in fellow Democratic Texas Rep. Greg Casar.

“I think in the last two weeks Lloyd Doggett thought that some of the folks who would be with him money, marbles, and chalk … were, in fact, with Greg, and that gave him great pause as to what his chances were,” Mark Littlefield, an Austin-based political strategist, told Politico on Monday. (RELATED: Texas GOP Hopes That Latinos Flocking To Trump Could Get Them 5 Seats In Redistricting)

Doggett told PBS News in an interview published Monday that not seeking reelection was a “tough decision” for him.

“For me personally, yes, it’s been a tough decision because I represent more than two-thirds of the district that I would defer to Congressman Casar on, and I’d really hope that he would not surrender his district in San Antonio, the end of his district in San Antonio to [President Donald] Trump,” Doggett told the outlet. “I think it’s a district that we must win to keep Trump from going out of Texas with five new seats.”

Casar, 36, officially announced on Monday that he was seeking reelection in Texas’ 37th congressional district. The Texas Democrat is the current chair of the left-wing Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), and is seen as a rising star in his party. Notable members of Casar’s CPC include far-left Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

Some of Casar’s allies had already readied $1.5 million in outside spending in the hopes to help bolster his campaign in a potential primary battle, according to Politico. Moreover, political groups such as BOLD PAC, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, also would have been ready to back Casar in a primary battle, the outlet reported.

“There’s no question where we stand, and will continue to stand. We would have stood with Greg,” Maurice Mitchell, national director of the left-wing Working Families Party, told Politico.

Still, Casar wrote in an Aug. 21 X post that Doggett is an “Austin institution,” in response to Doggett announcing he was not planning to launch a reelection bid.

“I’ve learned so much from him,” Casar wrote in the social media post, referring to Doggett. “I’m grateful to him. The fight for democracy continues.”

Doggett has continuously served in Congress since 1995, and took office when Casar was only five years old.

Some Democrats have been calling for the Democratic Party to elect younger leaders following the party’s brutal election losses in 2024. A Yale Youth Poll released in April found that many college-aged Americans now support the GOP over the Democratic Party.

Doggett previously referred to Texas Republicans’ redistricting efforts in the state as “Trump-imposed gerrymandering” which “relies on crooked lines instead of honest votes.” Still, some Democrats have vowed to retaliate against the GOP’s redistricting push.

Democratic Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland said Sunday his state could redraw its congressional maps as retaliation against the GOP’s redistricting in Texas. Similarly, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is leading a push for a new congressional map in his state in the hopes to add up to five additional Democratic House seats.

Doggett’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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