Casar gearing up to run for Congress

Council Member Greg Casar was clearly not surprised when long-time Austin Congressman Lloyd Doggett announced Tuesday that he would be running for the newly drawn Texas congressional District 37. Doggett currently represents District 35, but 37 is entirely within Austin. After Doggett’s announcement, Casar was ready Wednesday morning to announce that he had put together an exploratory committee to run for the District 35 seat. The committee includes more than 100 elected officials, community advocates, labor leaders and civil rights activists from across the district, which stretches from East Austin through Hays County and into San Antonio. Mayor Steve Adler and five of his colleagues on the Council joined District Attorney José Garza, former state Rep. Wendy Davis and a variety of San Antonio notables in expressing their support for Casar. According to the Austin American-Statesman, Austin Rep. Eddie Rodriguez and San Antonio Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer are also interested in the seat. If Casar goes ahead with the race, as seems likely, he will be giving up his Council seat for the opportunity to run in the March Democratic primary. So we can look forward to a Council race along with the other races in March.