Greg Casar opened up a wide lead in the Democratic contest for U.S. House District 35 and didn't look back, setting himself up as his party's official nominee in what it an open race this year.
Meanwhile, former Corpus Christi Mayor Dan McQueen has surged to the front of the Republican Primary context, and is currently set to face off against Michael Rodriguez in a runoff.
About the race
The 35th District, currently held by Congressman Lloyd Doggett, includes East Austin, runs south along the eastern side of Interstate 35, and extends into eastern San Antonio. Doggett is running in the newly created 37th District, which came about because of Texas’ massive population growth.
The district is nearly evenly split between the two population centers, with Bexar County making up about 40% of the district. Travis County hosts 39% of constituents while Hays County is the largest of the in-between counties at 18%.
The fight over that vacancy has turned into a fight for the future of the Democratic Party in Texas, bringing national attention and money.
About the candidates
Greg Casar
At age 25, Casar became the youngest person ever elected to the Austin City Council in 2014.
In his television advertising, Casar promises to support Medicare for All, fix the power grid and pass regulations to fight global warming. He also backs a $15 dollar federal minimum wage.
Casar first became enamored with Austin as a teenager, when he came to town to compete in the Texas Relays as a track star from Houston’s Strake Jesuit. After he earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia, he moved to Austin to become an activist.
Casar was the most prominent city leader, other than the Austin Mayor, in a dispute over homelessness that has consumed Austin civic life for more than two years and landed the capital city in national headlines for its handling of its unhoused population.
Casar has also received national support from progressive democrats on Capitol Hill. Both Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have both traveled to San Antonio and Austin to show support for Casar.
Eddie Rodriguez
A native of the Rio Grande Valley, Rodriguez attended the University of Texas at Austin for both his undergraduate and his law degrees. He got his political start as a former state legislature chief of staff and went on to be the top staffer at the Travis County Democratic Party.
In 2002, he was elected to the state House, just as Democrats lost control of the chamber. After 19 years in the chamber, he’s the dean of the Travis County state legislative delegation.
As part of the group of state Democrats who fled to Washington last summer in protest of the state GOP’s efforts to pass the elections restrictions law, Rodriguez had a front row seat to Congressional negotiations over the unsuccessful effort to pass the federal voting rights bill.
“I had never really thought about running for Congress, to be honest with you. … [Washington] seems somewhat dysfunctional,” he said.
Rebecca Viagran
While those candidates are mostly based in the Austin area, one candidate is representing the San Antonio area, which makes up a large portion of the district. Rebecca Viagran is a former San Antonio councilwoman and observers point to her as a potentially strong enough contender who could force the race to a May runoff.
Viagran was a member of the San Antonio City Council from 2013 to 2021. When she left office, she was the longest-serving Latina in the city council's history. Viagran is the director of workforce development at Texas A&M University. On her campaign website, Viagran wrote, "Too much is at stake when it comes to: Housing, The Assault on Women's Health and Reproductive rights, Empowering working families, Infrastructure, Voting Rights and Climate change to name a few."
Republican candidates on the ballot
Below is list of Republican candidates on the ballot and a link to their bio on Ballotpedia:
Election Day for the Texas primary is Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Click here for a sample ballot and list of polling locations.