Texas Rep. John Lujan files to run in redrawn 35th Congressional District

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State Rep. John Lujan, R-San Antonio, filed paperwork Wednesday evening to run in the new 35th Congressional District, joining a number of Republican local elected officials eyeing newly attainable seats under the GOP’s new map.

The 35th Congressional District, currently occupied by Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, is one of five blue seats that were dismantled under new lines passed by the Legislature last week with the goal of electing more GOP members of Congress from Texas.

Under the new map, the district loses its piece of Austin and now covers parts of San Antonio and outlying eastern areas in Bexar, Guadalupe, Wilson and Karnes counties, the latter three of which are heavily Republican.

The new seat would have voted for President Donald Trump by a 10-point margin had it existed in 2024. Casar has announced that he plans to run in the new Austin-based 37th Congressional District, which remains solidly blue.

Lujan’s state House district, which covers southern and eastern portions of Bexar County, overlaps with the new congressional seat. A small business owner and retired firefighter, Lujan flipped his traditionally Democratic seat in a 2021 special election and was elected to a full term the following year, even as Democrat Beto O’Rourke won the district over Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. He beat Democratic organizer Kristian Carranza last year by 3.4 points.

Christopher Schuchardt, a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for Bexar County Commissioners Court last year, also filed paperwork Wednesday to run in the new 35th Congressional District.

San Antonio City Council member Marc Whyte, whose district in San Antonio’s North Side is part of the new 35th District, is also exploring a bid, as is Kristin Tips, a San Antonio funeral director who heads the Texas Funeral Service Commission, The Texas Tribune previously reported.

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