Notorious Democrat Rep. Likely Headed For Defeat In ’26 After New Development

A vocal member of the ultra-left “Squad” is in danger of losing his U.S. House seat in next year’s elections thanks to redistricting efforts taking place in the Texas state legislature this week.

Democratic Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is being drawn out of his district as part of a GOP-led overhaul of Texas’ congressional districts, according to a map released by state Republicans on Wednesday. The change would see new borders almost certainly deliver House Republicans five more seats that President Donald Trump won by 10 points or more in the 2024 election, padding their chances of keeping a majority after the midterms.

Casar, 36, first won his seat in the 2022 midterms with the backing of progressive icons like U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and fellow Squad member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). He received 73% of the vote over his Republican opponent that year.

His district, the state’s 35th, snakes between San Antonio and Austin, a blue strip of east Texas that previously belonged to Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) before the 2020 redistricting.

Conservatives are salivating at the chance to knock out Casar and other Democratic gadflies like Rep. Al Green (D-TX), the 77-year-old lawmaker who was thrown out of the chamber during President Trump’s speech in March. His 9th District would be dismantled as part of the redistricting process.

Although Casar is not as nationally well-known as other Squad members, the Texas Democrat has reliably sided with his liberal colleagues, introducing or voting for measures to defund the police as well as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

On Monday, he met with San Antonio officials and called ICE activities in the city “disturbing” as immigration authorities sat outside the city’s courthouse and waited to apprehend illegal immigrants arriving for legal proceedings.

“I just witnessed the most disturbing government proceedings I’ve ever seen,” Casar told KSAT after a Venezuelan national was apprehended following a court appearance.

Other Democratic House members in the danger zone appear to be Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) of the Rio Grande Valley, Julie Johnson (D-TX) of the Dallas metro area, and Doggett, whose district is anchored by Austin.

In a sign of how disastrous the outcome will be for Democrats, liberal lawmakers are stoking talks of fleeing the state so that Republicans will not have a necessary quorum to pass the bill. That threat appears to have not materialized yet, but it may with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) arriving in Austin tonight to huddle with state lawmakers.

Texas lawmakers are teeing up a vote on the new map as soon as Wednesday, which would send it to the state Senate for a vote before heading to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for approval.