Sen. Sarah Eckhardt
Democratic state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt of Austin said Wednesday she is seriously considering a run for Congress in the GOP-leaning district being vacated next year by 20-year Republican Michael McCaul, saying its time for candidates in her party to quit playing defense and go on offense even if the odds appear stacked against them.
“It’s a difficult district drawn for Republicans, but we’re not getting the services we expect from the federal government,” Eckhardt said in an interview. “I am pretty confident that Republicans and Democrats, including libertarians and independents and people in the middle, are are pretty tired of government that doesn’t respond to them, that isn’t accountable to them.”
McCaul, a former chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security committees, announced Sunday that he planned to forego reelection in 2026 but will remain active in the public policy area. So far, no Republican has formally announced plans to run in the newly redrawn Congressional District 10.
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Eckardt, 60, has represented much of Austin in the Texas Senate since winning a special election in 2020. Her district is safely Democratic and her term does not expire until after the 2028 election cycle, meaning she would not have to give up her seat to run for Congress. During her time in the Senate, Eckhardt has publicly clashed with Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the 31-member chamber, saying last month that he uses the chamber “as his church, as his pulpit.”
Asked how she would seek to appeal to conservative voters far from her liberal Austin base, Eckhardt offered a message that could have been delivered by a small-government Republican.
“Most people want their government to be effective, efficient and fair and stay out and be minimally intrusive,” said Eckhardt, who did not give a timetable for announcing her plans for 2026. “They want their government to run like a quiet dishwasher. Get the dishes clean and don’t interfere.”
I like Sen. Eckhardt, I think she’d make a fine member of Congress if she were to win. I don’t know how well her sales pitch will resonate in the heavily Republican areas in CD10, but I’ve definitely heard worse.
A couple of points to note. One is that there’s already a Democrat running in CD10, Tayhlor Coleman, who as of the July reporting period had about $36K on hand. While Sen. Eckhardt would surely begin this race with a significant lead in name recognition – she was also the Travis County Judge before she was elected to the Senate – she doesn’t have a huge lead in cash on hand, as she reported $162K in her treasury as of the same period. That’s not a particularly large number for a multi-term Senator, but I suspect she’d be able to increase that quickly. She may already have been out hitting the phones since the end of the special sessions, and if so that number for her may be obsolete.
CD10 was actually made a bit bluer by the redistricting – about one point bluer in 2024 numbers, and about three points bluer in 2018 numbers. Indeed, by 2018 numbers, CD10 is not that solidly red – Ted Cruz won it by a 55.5-43.3 margin, which is comfortable but hardly overwhelming. Indeed, that’s about as close as it gets in 2018 terms for the normal Republican-held districts under the new map. The combination of this being an open seat and the prospect of a blue wave – which to be sure 2018 also was – could make one dream a bit on this district.
At a higher level, the willingness of a Sen. Eckhardt to consider jumping in here, in what even under favorable assumptions would be a heavy lift, is a sign that Democrats overall do feel some optimism about this cycle. We’ve not had a shortage of candidates, even as I impatiently await some decent contenders for CDs 09 and 35. That could well be some irrational exuberance, but I’ll take it over the alternative. Whatever she does decide, the vibes right now are pretty good.
Eckhardt (full disclosure – she lives in my neighborhood) has done many great things in her own right. But she also has name recognition that goes well beyond her own illustrious and impactful career, as she shares the name of her father, a former congressman whose career dated back to when a lot of those East Texas Republican voters in today’s CD10 were still Democrats.
Throw in that this is now an open seat (without even a declared Republican candidate?! that’s crazy), and I think this is definitely a race to watch.