Editing Lloyd Doggett (section)

==U.S. House of Representatives==
[[File:Al Gore, Lloyd Doggett and Nancy Pelosi at Netroots Nation 2008 (2728793940).jpg|thumb|Doggett with [[Nancy Pelosi]] and [[Al Gore]] at Netroots Nation 2008]]
[[File:Lloyd Doggett, Official Portrait, 112th Congress.jpg|thumb|right|Doggett in 2004]]
[[File:Lloyd Doggett 113th Congress.jpg|thumb|right|Doggett in 2013]]

=== Elections ===
;Before 2012
Doggett was elected to the House of Representatives in [[U.S. House election, 1994|1994]] in what was then the [[Texas's 10th congressional district|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 reelection in [[U.S. House election, 1996|1996]], Doggett defeated [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] nominee 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 reelection, Doggett consistently won around 85% of the vote, facing only [[United States Libertarian Party|Libertarian]] opponents. The 10th, which had once been represented by [[Lyndon Johnson]], had long been a liberal Democratic bastion in increasingly Republican Texas.

[[2003 Texas redistricting|Redistricting by the Texas Legislature]] in 2003 split Austin, which had been entirely or almost entirely in the 10th district for more than a century, into 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 his former territory wound up on the 25th district, which consisted of a long tendril stretching from Austin to [[McAllen, Texas|McAllen]] on the [[Mexico|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 the general election.{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}}

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, Texas|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.<ref name="Decision in LULAC v. Perry">{{cite web|title=Decision in LULAC v. Perry|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/05-204.ZO.html|access-date=March 10, 2010|work=Cornell University Law School}}, which forced the redrawing of the 25th</ref>

Due to the 23rd's size, 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. After skating to reelection in 2006 and 2008, he was held to only 52 percent of the vote in 2010—his closest race since 1996.

;2012
{{See also|2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas#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.<ref>{{cite news|author=Aaron Blake|date=June 2, 2011|title=The GOP's big Texas gerrymander|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/the-gops-strong-texas-gerrymander/2011/06/02/AGP56VHH_blog.html|access-date=June 2, 2011}}</ref> The new map split Doggett's old territory among five districts. His home was placed in a new, heavily Republican 25th district stretching from east Austin all the way to the fringes of Fort Worth. Much of his old base was placed in the newly created 35th district, a majority-Hispanic district stretching from San Antonio to eastern Austin.<ref>[ftp://ftpgis1.tlc.state.tx.us/PlanC235/Maps/Individual%20Districts/map_C235_25-36.pdf Map of Texas Congressional districts 25-36]{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Doggett's home was approximately five blocks east of the 35th. It appeared that the Republican-controlled state legislature had [[gerrymandering|gerrymandered]] the district by packing as many Democrats in the San Antonio-Austin corridor into it as possible.<ref name="AC">{{cite news|author=Michael King|title=CD 35: Doggett, Romo, Alvarado|newspaper=Austin Chronicle|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2012-05-11/cd-35-doggett-romo-alvarado}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news|author=Sean Miller|title=Doggett: Texas GOP's redistricting plan aims to eliminate white Dems|newspaper=The Hill|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/redistricting/93658-doggett-texas-gops-redistricting-plan-aims-to-eliminate-white-dems/}}</ref>

Doggett was set to face State Representative [[Joaquin Castro]] in the 35th district primary election. The race was described as the biggest threat to Doggett's survival yet, with Castro 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 said that any discussions with Castro took place after the area for the district was decided.<ref>{{cite news|author=Cindy Casares|title=Doggett vs. Castro: Getting Ugly Already|newspaper=Texas Observer|url=http://www.texasobserver.org/big-beat/doggett-vs-castro-getting-ugly-already}}</ref> 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 primary, he said that he would move into the district if he won. 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 stressed his long tenure as a progressive Democrat, saying he wanted to "stoutly defend Social Security, Medicare, and national health care", and also touted his strong support for 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.<ref name="AC" />

Doggett won the primary with 73.2% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news|author=Brad Rollins|title=Election 2012: The Morning After cheat sheet|newspaper=San Marcos Mercury|url=http://smmercury.com/2012/05/30/election-2012-the-morning-after-cheat-sheet|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130208184757/http://smmercury.com/2012/05/30/election-2012-the-morning-after-cheat-sheet|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 8, 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Doggett beats rivals favored to win in November">{{cite news|last=Martin|first=Gary|title=Doggett beats rivals favored to win in November|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|url=http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Doggett-beats-rivals-favored-to-win-in-November-3594032.php|access-date=May 30, 2012}}</ref> He easily defeated Republican nominee, former [[San Marcos, Texas|San Marcos]] Mayor [[Susan Narvaiz]], in the general election to become the first Anglo Democrat to represent a significant portion of San Antonio since [[Chick Kazen]] left office in 1985.

;2016
Doggett won his 12th House term in 2016. With 124,612 votes (63.1%), he again defeated Narvaiz, who polled 62,384 (31.6%). Two other contenders held the remaining 5.4% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web|date=November 8, 2016|title=Election Results|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist319_state.htm|access-date=December 17, 2016|publisher=Texas Secretary of State}}</ref>

'''2022'''

Texas's population growth resulted in its gaining two congressional seats after the 2020 census. In October 2021, Doggett announced he would run for reelection in the state's new 37th district rather than the 35th.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Livingston|first=Patrick Svitek and Abby|date=2021-10-18|title=Longtime U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett will run in the Austin area's new congressional district|url=https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/17/lloyd-doggett-austin-congress-2022/|access-date=2021-10-19|website=The Texas Tribune|language=en}}</ref> Austin had been split between five districts on the previous congressional map, and Republican members of Congress who represented the area began facing closer reelection margins later in the decade due to the city's continued population growth and overwhelmingly Democratic voting patterns. Republican state legislators drew one of the new districts, the 37th, almost entirely within Travis County. They hoped to bolster Republican margins in surrounding districts by packing as many of Austin's Democrats into the 35th and 37th districts as possible. It closely resembles the area Doggett represented for his first five terms. Doggett's decision to run in the 37th district created a vacancy in the 35th, which runs along [[Interstate 35]] from Austin to San Antonio. Both seats are overwhelmingly Democratic, and the [[2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas#District 35|winner of the Democratic primary]] in the 35th district, [[Greg Casar]], was easily elected in the general election. Doggett won the 37th just as easily.