Who's running in Texas's 37th congressional district
2 candidates are on the ballot. Below is what each one says they stand for, what they have actually done in office or in public life, and the arguments published for and against them — each quoted from a named source rather than summarised by us.
2 candidates · ballot order · Greg Casar currently holds this seat
Medium confidenceMedium confidenceThe candidate's stated positions and basic record are documented, but coverage is thin — often little independent reporting, or criticism from only one side.What would raise it: More independent reporting, a documented voting record, or published criticism from a named opponent would raise this.
What they say they stand for
Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.
An affordability agenda targeting utility companies, pharmaceutical firms, surveillance pricing and oil industry windfall profits.
Raising wages and expanding labour rights, the work he came from.
Housing affordability.
Immigrant rights and protections.
Restoring abortion rights and voting rights.
Climate policy, and protections for veterans and seniors.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
U.S. Representative for the 37th District since January 2023; re-elected in 2024.
Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus since January 2026.
Austin city councilmember and labour organiser before Congress.
Announced in August 2025 that he would run in this district after redistricting drew him and Lloyd Doggett into the same seat.
Has introduced a slate of bills on utility, pharmaceutical and energy pricing as part of the caucus's affordability agenda.
Advanced from the March 3, 2026 Democratic primary.
Arguments in favor
He chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has put an economic populist message at the centre of his party's midterm argument, a playbook he has been urging Democrats to adopt nationally.
— The Texas Tribune and Axios Austin
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders have both backed him, and the League of Conservation Voters counts him among its allies on environmental legislation.
— Endorsements reported by Austin Monthly; League of Conservation Voters
Arguments against
As an Austin council member he led the 2020 effort to cut $150 million from the police budget and backed the ordinance allowing homeless people to camp in tents across the city — which voters later overturned. His primary opponent argued the encampments "were not safe for the homeless or the public."
— Eddie Rodriguez, his 2022 Democratic primary opponent, reported by the Texas Tribune and the Austin Chronicle
That police-budget vote made him a standing feature of Republican advertising against Democrats nationally.
— The Texas Tribune's account of how his record has been used in Republican advertising
What we couldn’t verify
The homelessness and police-budget criticism dates from his 2022 Democratic primary rather than this cycle; no criticism of him by name from Lauren Peña's campaign or from the National Republican Congressional Committee was found for 2026.
He was affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America from 2018 to 2022; how he describes that affiliation now was not established from the sources found.
This district was redrawn in Texas's 2025 mid-decade redistricting; how the new boundaries change his position was not established from the sources found.
Eliminating waste in federal spending and reducing taxes.
Reforming welfare programmes she argues trap families across generations, drawing on her own experience of public housing.
Protecting individual rights and restoring integrity to public institutions.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Public interest advocate and government reform strategist.
Grew up in public housing; mother of four.
Testified at a Texas Senate hearing on congressional redistricting.
Won the May 26, 2026 Republican primary runoff against Ge'Nell Gary.
Has not held elected office.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
No published criticism of Peña by name could be found: not from Greg Casar or his campaign, not from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and not from Austin or San Antonio news coverage. Because no case against her exists on the record, none is presented for her either, rather than showing her own campaign's case unanswered.
Her positions and record were not stated in material available beyond her campaign site.
Her fundraising totals were not reported in material available.
Positions and criticism are quoted from the named sources, not our assessments. This is built to help you start getting informed — confirm the official candidate list with your election authority before you vote.
Texas held its primary on March 3, 2026 with runoffs on May 26. Democratic incumbent Greg Casar and Republican Lauren Peña, who won her runoff against Ge'Nell Gary, are the two candidates on the November ballot. Texas's 2025 mid-decade redistricting drew both Casar and Lloyd Doggett into this Austin seat; Casar announced in August 2025 that he would run here, and Doggett is not on the ballot. The district covers all but the westernmost part of Austin and gave Kamala Harris 76.8% in 2024, the highest share of any district on the new map. Roster confirmed against the Texas Secretary of State's certified ballot. Neither candidate is listed with arguments for or against here: no published criticism of either candidate by name from someone opposing them could be found in a form specific enough to attribute, and setting out a case against one and not the other would tilt the page.
This is one contest on a longer ballot
A Texas ballot also carries state legislative districts, county offices, judicial seats and often local questions — and which of them you vote on is decided by your street address, not your city or ZIP code.