Lloyd Doggett - Political Campaigns

Political Campaigns

Before 2012

In 1984 he lost the U.S. Senate election to Phil Gramm by a margin of 59%-41%. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 in what was then the 10th District after 32-year incumbent Jake Pickle retired. He was one of the few Democrats to win an open seat in that year's massive Republican landslide. Running for re-election in 1996, Congressman Doggett defeated a challenger in Republican Teresa Doggett, to whom he is no relation. It marked the second election in a row in which he defeated a black female Republican. In the years following his first re-election, Doggett would consistently win around 85% of the vote, facing only Libertarian opponents. The 10th, which had once been represented by Lyndon Johnson, had long been a liberal Democratic bastion in increasingly Republican Texas.

Redistricting by the Texas Legislature in 2003 split Austin, which had been located entirely or almost entirely in the 10th district for more than a century, among three districts. Through Republican gerrymandering, Doggett's home wound up in a new, heavily Republican 10th district stretching from north central Austin to the Houston suburbs. Most of Doggett's former territory wound up on the 25th district, which consisted of a long tendril stretching from Austin to McAllen on the Mexican border. It was called "the fajita strip" or "the bacon strip" because of its shape. Doggett moved to the newly configured 25th and entered the Democratic primary—the real contest in the heavily Democratic, majority-Hispanic district. He won the primary and went on to victory in November.

On June 28, 2006, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the nearby 23rd District's lines violated the rights of Latino voters. As part of the 2003 redistricting, heavily Democratic and majority-Latino Laredo had largely been cut out of the 23rd and replaced by several heavily Republican areas near San Antonio. The decision turned on the fact that the 23rd was a protected majority-Latino district—in other words, if the 23rd was ever redrawn to put Latinos in a minority, an acceptable majority-Latino district had to be created in its place. While the new 23rd was 55% Latino, only 46% of its voting population was Latino. The Court therefore found that the 23rd was not an acceptable Latino-majority district. It also found that the 25th was not compact enough to be an acceptable replacement because the two Latino communities in the district were more than 300 miles apart, creating the impression that it had been deliberately drawn to pick up as many Latinos as possible without regard to compactness.

Due to the size of the 23rd, the ruling forced the redrawing of five districts between El Paso and San Antonio, including the 25th. For the 2006 election, Doggett regained most of his old base in Austin (though not the area around the University of Texas at Austin, which stayed in the 21st), and also picked up several suburbs southeast of the city. He was reelected three times from this district against only nominal opposition.

2012

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, 2012#District 35

It was reported that the new Congressional maps in Texas turned Doggett's district from a strongly Democratic district into a strongly Republican one. The new map split Doggett's old territory among five districts. His home was placed in a new, heavily Republican 25th District stretching from western Austin all the way to the fringes of the Metroplex. Much of his old base, however, was placed in the newly-created 35th district, a majority-Hispanic district stretching from eastern Austin to San Antonio. Doggett's home was located approximately five blocks east of the 35th. It appeared that the Republican-controlled state legislature had gerrymandered the district by packing as many Democrats in the Austin-San Antonio corridor into it as possible.

Doggett accused the Republicans of wanting to make it difficult, if not impossible, for an Anglo Democrat to be elected to Congress from Texas, saying, "The Republican Party is determined to make the Democratic Party a party of minorities — that is what this is about, as well." He added that the Republicans were deliberately trying to reduce Austin's clout in Congress by "deny(ing) the capital city an opportunity to have a district that reflects the capital city." He was faced with the choice between running in the reconfigured 25th or moving, joking that he would live in a Winnebago to be able to run in the newly-created 35th.

Doggett would have faced State Representative Joaquin Castro in the District 25 primary election. The potential race was described as the biggest threat to Dogett's survival yet, with Castro being seen as a “rising star” in the Democratic party. Doggett accused Castro of working alongside Republicans throughout the redistricting process. The Republican House Redistricting Committee later clarified, saying that any discussions with Castro took place after the area for the district was decided. However, Castro opted to run in the neighboring 20th District after its incumbent, Charlie Gonzalez, announced his retirement.

Doggett eventually decided to run in the 35th District, facing Bexar County assessor Sylvia Romo. Before the primaries, he said that he would move into the district if she were to win. Political commentators suggested that Romo had the district numbers in her favor, but was attempting the difficult leap from local office to Congress, while Doggett had a huge amount of funding. Doggett has stressed his long tenure as a progressive Democrat, saying he wants to “stoutly defend Social Security, Medicare, and national health care, and also notes his strong support for both higher education programs and public education.” By contrast, Romo’s campaign stressed her tax knowledge and CPA license, focusing on her potential to help with Congressional tax reform and economic growth.

Doggett won the primary with 73.2% of the vote, and will face Republican Susan Narvaiz in the general election. He performed strongly in San Antonio, an area he had never before represented. The district is so heavily Democratic that he was heavily favored to win the general election in November.