AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Little more than two weeks after announcing an exploratory committee, current Austin City Council member Greg Casar announced Thursday he's officially running for Congress.
"I believe that working families from Bexar, to Hays, to Comal, to Travis County, deserve a progressive leader who will always fight and deliver for reproductive rights, good jobs, Medicare for All, and a better Texas," Casar said in an announcement video posted to Twitter.
Casar will run in Texas' 35th Congressional district, the seat currently held by longtime Austin Democrat Lloyd Doggett. Doggett announced last month he'll seek re-election in the newly created District 37, which encompasses much of the western part of the City of Austin.
First elected to Austin's City Council in 2014, Casar is serving out his third term on the council dais and was one of the inaugural members of the city's 10-1 council.
The District 35 seat that Casar will seek election to covers much of East Austin, and stretches south along Interstate 35 into San Antonio.
The Democratic primary for the seat is expected to be a crowded field, with state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) also filing campaign paperwork Thursday. State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, along with Claudia Zapata and David L. Anderson Jr. have also expressed interest in running for the seat.
Casar will vacate his District 4 council seat once a special election is held to replace him. It's not clear when that election would take place; whoever wins that election would serve out the remainder of Casar's term, which runs through January 2025.