The Austin Democrat, who has served in Congress since 1995, currently represents the 35th District, which stretches down to San Antonio. He will run in the newly created 37th District located in Travis County.
Congress
Read the latest Texas Tribune coverage of Congress, from the state’s lawmakers in Washington to key legislation and political debates shaping Texas and the nation.
Posted in
Redistricting Texas
Texas congressional map heads into last-minute negotiations as Democrats decry shortage of Hispanic representation
Though people of color drove nearly all of Texas’ population gains in the last decade, the proposed map gives white voters control of both of the two new congressional districts the state earned.
Posted in
Politics
Ted Cruz and John Cornyn opposed a debt-limit increase that will stave off economic catastrophe, but backed previous borrowing hikes
The two Republican senators from Texas have routinely supported more government borrowing when Republicans held the White House.
Posted in
Redistricting Texas
Texas Senate approves congressional map that draws no new Black or Hispanic districts even as people of color fueled population growth
Texas gained two new seats in Congress based on population growth fueled by people of color. But the Senate’s proposal provides no new majority-Black or majority-Hispanic districts to reflect that growth.
Posted in
Redistricting Texas
Two Black Houston members of Congress decry redistricting map that pits them against each other as discriminatory
Despite the objections of U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, the Senate committee voted out the redrawn congressional map Monday without addressing the district overlap. The map heads next to the full Senate for a vote.
Posted in
Texas 2022 Elections
South Texas was already a political battleground. New maps could alter game plans.
With proposed maps out, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, says he might switch to a neighboring district where U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, is retiring. The initial maps are also sure to impact decisions in regional legislative races.
Posted in
Redistricting Texas
Analysis: In the drive to get new Texas political maps, racial representation takes a back seat
Republican lawmakers in Texas are trying to make the most of their majority, drawing new political maps to preserve their political dynasty. The maps they’ve proposed would do that, but don’t represent the state’s population.
Posted in
Redistricting Texas
Analysis: Texas government won’t represent the state’s population unless its political maps do
The Texas Legislature is drawing new political maps to reflect the growth of the state recorded in the 2020 census. But their initial proposals don’t look like the state demographically or politically.
Posted in
Economy
Here’s what Texans need to know about the government shutdown threat in Congress
In a late-night scramble, U.S. Senate leaders circulated a continuing resolution that could prevent a federal shutdown and the furlough of some 35,000 Texans who work for the federal government.
Posted in
Redistricting Texas
Texas reduces Black and Hispanic majority congressional districts in proposed map, despite people of color fueling population growth
The proposed congressional map also increases the number of districts where Trump would have had a majority of voters over Biden in 2020 and protects Republican incumbents who might have been vulnerable by packing their districts with more Trump voters.