State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt launched her campaign for Texas’ 10th Congressional District on Monday, saying voters in the district, long held by Republicans, deserve choices.
The Austin Democrat’s announcement comes a month and a half after Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, said he is vacating the Republican-leaning district after more than 20 years in office.
In her launch video, Eckhardt compared the spirit of her campaign to the efforts to build large-scale infrastructure projects in the district, like Lake Livingston and the Mansfield Dam, and the level of cooperation it took the Founding Fathers to create the country.
“We’re not going to agree on everything, but just like those original 13 colonies, we can work together to build things that last as long as Mansfield Dam — not just until the next election cycle,” Eckhardt said.
Eckhardt was elected to the Texas Senate in 2020. She is now serving her second term, which ends in early 2029. This means she won’t have to give up her seat to run for Congress.
Eckhardt has deep roots in Austin, having previously served as a Travis County Commissioner and Travis County Judge. She’s also the daughter of the late Rep. Bob Eckhardt, who represented Texas’ 8th District in Congress from 1967 until 1981.
As a state senator, Eckhardt’s campaign website touts her focus on strengthening climate resiliency, expanding health care, and criminal and social justice.
The district was redrawn this summer to include more Democratic areas of Austin, but is still likely to remain under Republican control. If the new boundaries had existed during the 2024 election, Donald Trump would have won the district with 60.5% of the vote.
The district includes Texas A&M University in College Station and stretches from parts of Austin into East Texas.
So far, 10 candidates have filed to run in the Republican primary, including lawyer Chris Gober, who has represented Elon Musk, and lobbyist Jessica Karlsruher. Two other Democrats, college professor Dawn Marshall and voting rights advocate Tayhlor Coleman, have filed for the race.
Candidates have until Dec. 8 to jump into the race.
Gabby Birenbaum contributed to this report.
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