San Marcos Record, San Marcos, TX

Local News

June 26, 2011

State races heating up; Castro to enter fray

By David Short Staff Reporter

— “And they are off and running!”  It may not be a horse race but the political campaign season here kicked off late Friday afternoon as candidates began announcing for the new 35th Congressional seat which runs through parts of eastern Hays County, including most of San Marcos.

The scramble is in part due to the rare opportunity the sprawling district presents because there is no incumbent.  Well, sort of anyway.  Running from the middle of eastern Travis County in the north, down through parts of Hays, Caldwell and Comal Counties and ending in the middle of Bexar County, the new district is part of a four-seat pick-up that Texas received as a result of the Census.

Joaquin Castro, a state representative from San Antonio and twin brother of that city’s mayor, announced Friday he is running for the unoccupied seat. Soon after, Lloyd Doggett of Austin, the incumbent in Congressional District 25, said he would be moving into the new 35th District to also run. Doggett’s current district, under the new redistricting plan, will become more heavily Republican and Doggett is a Democrat.

Two other members of the San Antonio delegation who had been rumored to perhaps be looking at running, State Senator Carlos Uresti and State Representative Mike Villarreal, both announced Friday night that they would not run but instead were endorsing Castro for the new seat.

    No Republicans have announced as of press time, but potential candidates in both parties still have months before the primary elections in the Spring of 2012.

    Maps of the proposed new Congressional Districts are available on the Texas Legislative Council website, www.tlc.state.tx.us

    While the state Legislature has approved the maps, as of press time Governor Rick Perry has not signed the law but has given no indication that he will not. After that, due to the Voting Rights Act, the maps must be forwarded to the Department of Justice in Washington for review and there is always the potential for court challenges to some or all of the districts drawn by the Legislature.

    In the meantime, expect candidates and potential candidates to start crisscrossing the area seeking support among voters.

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