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WASHINGTON โ€” Terry Virts, a former astronaut and International Space Station commander, on Thursday said that he was ending his campaign for U.S. Senate to run in Texas’ newly drawn 9th Congressional District.

The retired Air Force colonel launched his campaign for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination in June. But his bid struggled to gain traction over the higher profile campaigns of state Rep. James Talarico and former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred.

In a press release, Virts said his shift to the House race โ€œreflects a renewed focus on defending Texasโ€™ voice in Congress and ensuring common-sense leadership in this pivotal district.โ€

โ€œWhen politicians changed the political maps to favor their power over the power of the people, the maps changed but my mission didnโ€™t,โ€ Virts said. โ€œIโ€™m running to make sure Texans voices are heard โ€” fighting for Texas families, small businesses and the American dream.โ€

The 9th Congressional District is one of five Democratic seats that state lawmakers overhauled this summer to become more favorable to Republicans during the GOP’s mid-decade redistricting push. The new lines anchor the district east of Houston and transform it from a seat that voted for Vice President Kamala Harris by 44 percentage points last year to one that would have gone for President Donald Trump by 20 points.

State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, and former Army captain Alexandra del Moral Mealer are among the Republicans already in the race.

Virts said his campaign would focus on affordability and working class issues; “common-sense immigration” policy including a “strong border,” “treating immigrants with dignity and respect,” and focusing immigration enforcement on criminal activity; and “restoring democracy” by imposing congressional term limits and “getting corporate money out of politics.”

In an earlier video announcing his Senate candidacy, Virts, 57, drew on his background as an astronaut while distancing himself from the Democratic establishment. โ€œAfter every mission, we debrief, no excuses, just the truth,โ€ he said. โ€œAfter the 2024 election disaster, Washington Democratic leadership skipped the debrief.โ€

He went on to accuse national party leaders of clinging to โ€œthe same old bankrupt ideas that they, and not voters, should pick our candidates and that we should run the same old, tired playbook again, hoping for a different outcome.โ€

Virts, clad in an astronaut jumpsuit and describing himself as a โ€œcommon-sense Democrat,โ€ highlighted his background in the Air Force, noting that he joined the military at 17 and went on to fly combat missions over Iraq. After he retired from NASA, Virts became a public speaker, delivering lectures, appearing on podcasts, working as an executive coach and authoring several childrenโ€™s books.

In the Senate launch video, Virts painted the Republican Party as dishonest, adding, โ€œTrumpโ€™s chaos must be stopped. The corruption is overwhelming.โ€

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Owen Dahlkamp was a Washington, D.C.-based reporting fellow covering political developments that affect Texans in the nation's capital. Hailing from San Diego, California, Owen is be a Brown University...

Kayla Guo covers state politics and government. Before joining the Tribune, she covered Congress for The New York Times as a reporting fellow based in Washington, D.C. Kayla has also covered transportation...