SAN ANTONIO (Nexstar) — A moment on the Senate chamber floor late Monday night shifted attention to whether a longtime Democratic representative’s future political plans include a run for higher office.
Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, chairs the Redistricting Committee in the Senate. While going over changes the Conference Committee made to proposed congressional maps, she said it included drawing Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, into Texas Congressional District 35 to include him, “at his request.”
Martinez Fischer confirmed with Nexstar that he is considering running in District 35, but said that isn’t the only reason he asked to change the lines.
“I think anybody who can look at a map can see that I’m breathing the air of CD-35, just on my front porch,” he said. “When you grow the map, you entirely bring in communities. Here’s what I want — I want fair representation in San Antonio.”
The San Antonio Democrat has worked under the pink dome for 10 legislative sessions, which he says puts himself in a “unique position” to represent District 35, which encompasses most of Travis County east of Interstate 35, as well as snakes south down the freeway through Hays and Comal Counties, all the way into Bexar County and parts of San Antonio.
“I have 20 years of relationships that I’ve made with people who live in South Austin, Southeast Austin and Pflugerville. Beyond that, I went to law school in Austin… I’ve been making friends in Austin since 1991,” he said. “I think that the ideal candidate in 35 is going to be the one that can bring communities together, not divide communities, not polarize our community. “It’s about fixing things, not breaking things.”
Austin City Council member Greg Casar, also a Democrat, is considering running in District 35. Casar announced Tuesday he is he launched an exploratory committee to figure out if he’ll run for the open seat, currently held by Rep. Lloyd Doggett. Doggett announced Monday he’s going to run to represent District 37, another district with new lines.