Rep. Lloyd Doggett announces that he will not seek re-election if the courts uphold Texas’ new congressional map

By

Briana Ryan

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) announced on Aug. 21, 2025, that he will not seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026 if the courts do not overturn Texas’ new congressional map.

The Texas House of Representatives passed the map on Aug. 20, 2025, and the Texas Senate passed it on Aug. 23, 2025. In a statement, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) wrote that he will sign the map. The map includes five newly-drawn districts that would favor Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections. According to The Texas Tribune’s Colleen Deguzman, two law firms have filed a lawsuit challenging the map, and more are expected to follow. Click here to read more about the redistricting effort in Texas ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The original map divided Austin, Texas, into two districts—Texas’ 37th Congressional District, which Doggett represents, and Texas’ 35th Congressional District, which Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) represents. However, in the new map, the 37th Congressional District is the only Austin-based district. The Texan‘s Cameron Abrams wrote that “Given that the new congressional district map has redrawn Casar’s current 35th Congressional District as solidly Republican, he and Doggett would be forced to vie for support within the solidly Democratic 37th Congressional District in 2026.”

In a statement, Doggett wrote, “If this racially gerrymandered Trump map is rejected, as it should be, I will continue seeking reelection in Congressional District 37 to represent my neighbors in the only town I have ever called home. If the courts give Trump a victory in his scheme to maintain control of a compliant House, I will not seek reelection in the reconfigured CD 37, even though it contains over 2/3rd of my current constituents.”

In 1994, Doggett ran for the U.S. House in Texas’ 10th Congressional District after then-Rep. James Jarrell Pickle (D-Texas) announced that he would not seek re-election. In the general election, Doggett defeated Jo Baylor (R) 56% to 40%. Doggett won re-election in the district in 1996 by 15 percentage points and ran without major party opposition in the district in 1998, 2000, and 2002.

During Doggett’s tenure in the U.S. House, he also represented three other iterations of an Austin-based district due to redistricting. Here’s a look at his electoral history in each of those districts:

  • Texas’ 25th Congressional District (represented from 2005–2013): Doggett won by a median of 36 percentage points in his four re-election bids in which he ran with major party opposition in the district. Doggett’s widest margin of victory (MOV) in the district was in 2006, when he won by 41 percentage points. His narrowest MOV in the district was in 2010 when he won by eight percentage points.
  • Texas’ 35th Congressional District (represented from 2013–2023): Doggett won by a median of 32 percentage points in his five re-election bids in which he ran with major party opposition in the district. Doggett’s widest MOV in the district was in 2018, when he won by 45 percentage points. His narrowest MOV in the district was in 2014 when he won by 29 percentage points.
  • Texas’ 37th Congressional District (represented since 2023): Doggett won the district by 56 percentage points in 2022 and 51 percentage points in 2024.

As of Aug. 19, 2025, The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections have rated the 2026 general election for the seat Solid Democratic. Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Democratic.

As of Aug. 21, 2025, Doggett is one of 30 members of the U.S. Congress—seven U.S. Senate members and 23 U.S. House members—who have announced they will not seek re-election to their current seats in 2026.

Of the 23 representatives not seeking re-election:

  • Five—four Democrats and one Republican—are retiring from public office.
  • Nine—five Democrats and four Republicans—are running for the U.S. Senate.
  • Eight—all Republicans—are running for governor.
  • One Republican is running for state attorney general.

Compared to the last four election cycles, there were 13 retirement announcements at this point in 2024, 18 in 2022, 17 in 2020, and 21 in 2018.

Between January 2011 and Aug. 21, 2025, Ballotpedia followed 326 announcements from U.S. House members who announced they would not seek re-election. January had the highest number of members announcing they would not run for re-election at 57. The fewest announcements took place in June at 15.