Speaking to a standing-room only crowd at Central Machine Works on Saturday, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, promised robust action should Democrats retake both houses of Congress in November.
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In an interview with The Atlantic’s Evan Smith during the inaugural KUT Festival, the Congressional Progressive Caucus leader said the Democratic Party must push an “affordability and accountability” message with voters over the coming months and follow through if they are in power after the midterm elections.
“We have to be known as more than the party that just did accountability,” Casar said, adding that voters have “got to know that we tried to stand up for your ability to freaking survive in Austin, Texas.”
Casar, a former Austin City Council member who is as beloved by liberals as he is vilified by conservatives, also announced a full-throated endorsement of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“In my view he has taken on the fight,” Casar said, citing the current House minority leader’s work to block additional Medicaid cuts, support state redistricting efforts in favor of Democrats, and successfully push against funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “A little bit of the Brooklyn fighter — I like that.”
But Casar demurred when Smith asked him if state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, “has a problem with Black voters” during his current run for U.S. Senate.
“Look, I’m not up here to be a pundit on James’ campaign,” Casar said. “I know he has been working and he will work to not take a single, single vote for granted.”
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Casar reiterated that perspective in an interview with KUT News afterward, saying “It’s not that I was trying to whiff on answering.”
“Are there lots of Black Texans who voted for James? Yes. Were there many more who voted for Jasmine? Yes,” he said, referring to U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, another Senate hopeful who lost the Democratic primary to Talarico, but who dominated the Black vote.
“Are all of the folks that voted for Jasmine universally all equally excited about James? No,” Casar said. “Some of them might want to hear James’ campaign, and he’s gonna campaign, and I hope that he gets all of them.”
Casar was also more wary when Smith asked him about the call from some politicians — including state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, who is running for Texas governor — to suspend the federal gasoline tax in the wake of the war in Iran, which has led to a spike in fuel prices. He told Smith he would prefer to see a windfall tax on oil companies and billionaires instead.
Speaking with KUT News afterward, Casar said it was the first he had heard of Hinojosa’s call for a gas tax holiday, but that “Gina and I are very aligned … I imagine that I would be supportive of Gina’s plan.”
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