In response to the Texas GOP’s newly gerrymandered congressional map, Democrats hoped their lawmakers would band together and push back against Republicans with a unified voice. Instead, Democrats already appear to be fighting each other.
The new map — while not yet official — will pit at least two Democrats in the Austin area against each other for one blue seat. And it looks like that race could get messy.
Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar appear destined to duke it out in a Democratic primary, with the race rehashing many of the thorniest issues for Democrats — like age, diversity and a battle between progressive politics and pragmatism.
Democrats are already drawing parallels between this race and President Joe Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign and Doggett’s position as the first Democrat to call on Biden to bow out of the presidential race could be an issue.
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According to four progressives Democrats, members and staff in Congress are privately fuming at Doggett’s announcement on CNN that he has filed to run for election for the 37th Congressional District, which has been redrawn to include parts of his and Casar’s districts.
“It’s not a matter of me running against him,” Doggett said of Casar on CNN. “I’m in District 37. Two-thirds of my people are there. I filed for reelection. But we have set about a plan to work together, united to fight this plan, and whatever happens after this, we can take a look at it then.”
The problem is, people don’t think Doggett is exactly waiting — not when he’s already talking about a primary against Casar.
Some Democrats in Congress think it’d be best if Doggett just stepped aside, particularly after he so prominently called on Biden to step down from the Democratic ticket.
“Lloyd has such an amazing track record, such an amazing record in Congress and has done amazing work,” a Democratic member, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told NOTUS. “I think if this map ends up going through, Lloyd will taint his legacy by running against someone like Greg Casar.”
The member added that Doggett was now in a similar situation to Biden. “It’s time to take his own advice,” this member said. “If he fails to do that, it could be a nasty race.”
While Democrats are trying to put most of their attention toward trying to prevent the proposed Texas map — which would, in theory, increase the number of red districts in Texas from 25 to 30 of the 38 congressional seats — the Doggett interview is making it harder to ignore that, at some point, Democrats may turn on each other.
For his part, Doggett told NOTUS that “promoting this type of division and infighting is exactly what Republicans want.”
“Greg and I are both committed to working together to stop this outrageous gerrymandering,” Doggett said in a statement. “While CD37, in which I had already filed for reelection, continues under the new map to contain 2/3 of my current constituents, my focus remains on protecting our democracy from Trump using redistricting to elect more Republicans to rubber-stamp his cruel agenda. As to President Joe Biden, I did speak out when others were silent, not about concern with his age, but his ability and electability.”
During his CNN interview, however, Doggett did have some only thinly veiled shots at Casar.
While he said it was good to have “young leaders,” he also said “we don’t need everyone in our team to play the same position.”
“Winning teams take advantage of the strengths of members,” Doggett said. “Some are strong on social media. Some are strong in dealing with the details of these bills and how to fight back against the Trump administration.”
Casar’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
But as his statement made clear, Doggett seems aware that there could be an element of hypocrisy between his decision to run for reelection and his calls for Biden to step down. It’s why he said on CNN that his concern with Biden was that the president “wasn’t up to the job.”
“It was a question not of age, but of action, and I’m pleased to have my record evaluated,” Doggett said.
Doggett has served in Congress since 1995. He would be 80 years old next Congress, should he win, which is nearly the same age that Biden was when Doggett urged the president not to run for reelection.
Meanwhile, Casar is 36. He entered Congress in 2023 and serves as the chair of the progressive caucus, of which Doggett is also a member. And though he may be perceived as a little less liberal than Casar, both are safely among the most progressive members in Congress.
Of course, their respective politics would still be an issue in a primary, particularly in a blue district packed with Austin’s most liberal voters.
But because their politics aren’t so different, Doggett’s age — and his calls for Biden to resign — could feature more prominently in a primary.
“Members remember just this time last year when Doggett was the first out of the gate to urge Biden to step aside and let the next generation lead,” one senior Democratic aide told NOTUS. “Casar is the definition of a next generation leader for our party and Doggett should take his own advice.”
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