A senior House Democrat scrambling to retain his seat in Congress amid Texas Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting push is actively pressuring his younger left-wing colleague to not run against him — as the state’s proposed GOP-drawn map threatens to place the two Democrats in the same district.

Democratic Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett signaled Monday that he will seek his 17th term in Congress despite the prospect of a potential primary challenge from fellow Democratic Texas Rep. Greg Casar. The newly-drawn map would create only one safe blue seat in Austin, Texas, setting up a potential brutal primary contest that Doggett is trying to avoid by lobbying Casar to run for a neighboring seat that is solidly Republican.

“If this sorry Trump map for Texas is eventually approved, I remain hopeful that Congressman Casar will not abandon his reconfigured CD35 [35th congressional district], in which he is the only incumbent,” Doggett said in a statement Monday. “Without Greg’s power of incumbency and ability to attract support, this seat could be lost by a weaker Democratic nominee.”

“[I]f I am challenged in Austin, I stand ready to vigorously and forcefully defend my progressive pay-as-you-go record and my commitment to the only city I have ever called home,” Doggett continued. “Never give up, never give in!”

Texas Republicans are eyeing five pickup opportunities with the newly-proposed congressional map that would draw Doggett and Casar into the same Austin, Texas-based seat. The GOP-backed redistricting effort has been temporarily stalled following Democrats choosing to deny Republicans a quorum in the state House by departing the state for Democratic enclaves across the country. (Read more from “Nasty Dem Vs. Dem House Dogfight Set Up By Texas Redistricting” HERE)

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