Though March party primaries still seem a long way off, several area congressional candidates are already throwing their hats into the ring.
The filing deadline for the March 3 contest is Monday.
In the meantime, a decision Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for five new districts favoring the Republican Party approved during the last legislative session and championed by President Donald Trump.
Democrats famously left Austin to delay the eventual vote, which they said amounted to racial gerrymandering. The high court’s ruling allows the maps to stand for now, though legal scholars have said the measure could later be challenged on a constitutional level. “We won! Texas is officially — and legally — more red,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a news release. “The U.S. Supreme Court restored the redistricting maps passed by Texas that were based on constitutional principles and Supreme Court precedent. The new congressional districts better align our representation in Washington, D.C., with the values of our state. This is a victory for Texas voters, for common sense and for the U.S. Constitution.”
Democrats decried the Supreme Court’s decision. A lower federal court in El Paso had earlier blocked the maps in a 2-to-1 decision.
“We still believe that voters should pick their politicians; politicians don’t get to pick their voters,” said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder in a prepared statement. “Texas Democrats are going to organize and fight like hell to keep this principle and fight this disastrous agenda. Republicans and their courts won’t stop until we have a U.S. Congress that’s whiter than before Reconstruction.”
With 38 Texas districts in the U.S. House of Representatives, 22 of the 38 state reps are Republican.
The redistricting map is projected to give Texas up to 30 Republicans in the House.
There are 13 candidates so far – nine Republican, four Democrat – running for the District 31 congressional seat, which represents the majority of Williamson County.
John Carter, R–Round Rock, has held the District 31 seat since 2003.
Looking to unseat Carter in the Republican Primary in March are eight candidates including William Abel, David Berry, Steven Dowell, Abriham Garapati, Valentina Gomez Noriega, Raymond Hamden, Jack McConnell and Mike Williams.
The winner in the Republican Primary will face Democratic opposition in the Nov. 3 general election.
The District 31 Democrat candidates are Justin Early, Caitlin Rourk, Brian Trautner and Stuart Whitlow.
District 31 covers Granger, Hutto, Taylor and out to Stephenville.
District 17, which represents southeastern Williamson County including Coupland and Thrall, does not have as many candidates vying for the seat.
As of press time, incumbent Pete Sessions, R–Waco, is the only Republican running for the spot.
If Sessions, who has held the seat since 2021, fails to draw an opponent for the March primary, he will face a Democratic rival in the November balloting.
Jamilah Flores and J. Gordon Mitchell are vying for the March Democrat nomination.
District 17 stretches from Waco to Lufkin.
Early voting is Feb. 17 to Feb. 27. Any runoff elections will be May 26.
Meanwhile, school board and city elections are May 2. Early voting is April 20 to April 28.
