Rep. Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville) announced he would not seek re-election.
“It is with sincere gratitude, yet a heavy heart, that I have decided that I will not seek re-election to the Texas House,” Lucio said in a statement. “It has been one of the greatest honors of my life.” Lucio was first elected in 2006 and re-elected seven times.
“I look forward to remaining very active in my community, our chamber of commerce, institutions of education and, most importantly, my daughter’s soon to be PTA,” he said.
Lucio becomes be the 14th House member elected to the 87th Legislature who will not be returning. Reps. Michelle Beckley (D-Carrollton), Phil King (R-Weatherford), Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth), Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound) and James White (R-Hillister) are seeking other offices. Rep. Celia Israel (D-Austin) is exploring a run for mayor. Reps. Ben Leman (R-Iola), Jim Murphy (R-Houston), Chris Paddie (R-Marshall), Scott Sanford (R-McKinney) and John Turner (D-Dallas) are retiring. Former Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-Waxahachie) is now in Congress, and former Rep. Leo Pacheco (D-San Antonio) resigned.
So far, two senators are also not returning: Sen. Dawn Buckingham (R-Lakeway) is running for Land Commissioner, and Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) is retiring.
Correction: It has been pointed out that the introduced House redistricting plan does not pair Reps. Jacey Jetton (R-Richmond) and Phil Stephenson (R-Wharton), as we reported based on the data package produced for the plan. We thought it was odd at the time but did not investigate. Richmond appears to be entirely located within proposed HD26, and Wharton is located in proposed HD85. Our other error was incorrectly indicating Jetton was from somewhere other than Richmond, which we regret.
HD19/HD20/HD73: Former Austin council member Ellen Troxclair has ended her campaign for SD24 and will instead run in the reconfigured HD19. In the initial House map, HD19 includes western Travis Co., where Troxclair resides, and all of Blanco, Burnet, Gillespie and Kendall Cos. Burnet Co. Republican chair Kara Chasteen endorsed Troxclair.
As drawn, HD19 pairs Reps. Kyle Biedermann (R-Fredericksburg) and Terry Wilson (R-Granite Shoals). Biedermann has indicated he may run in HD73, which includes property he owns in Comal Co., but he has not made a final decision. Wilson said he would run in reconfigured HD20, which sits entirely within Williamson Co. Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) and Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC endorsed Wilson for that seat.
HD19 is currently held by Rep. James White (R-Hillister), who is running for Agriculture Commissioner, and the proposed map ports the district number over to Central Texas. White, were he seeking re-election, would be paired with Rep. Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin) in reconfigured HD9, whose incumbent, Rep. Chris Paddie (R-Marshall), would be paired with Rep. Jay Dean (R-Longview) in HD7 were he seeking re-election.
CD3: Allen M&A advisor Suzanne Harp established a campaign committee for a potential primary challenge of U.S. Rep. Van Taylor (R-Plano).
CD15/CD34: Politico’s Ally Mutnick reported that U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-McAllen) is considering running in open CD34, which will be much friendlier to Democratic candidates than CD15, as both are drawn in the Senate’s introduced map. As configured in that map, CD15 broke for President Trump by 3 points in 2020. CD34 broke for President Biden by 16 points in 2020.
CD38 open: Wesley Hunt’s (R) campaign announced he raised more than $1M during the third quarter and has more than $1M on hand.
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