Tarrant County Rep. Jeff Cason will not seek reelection after district turns ‘dark blue’
State Rep. Jeff Cason will not seek reelection after his House seat was drawn to favor Democrats in the latest redistricting cycle.
“It doesn’t make sense to run in a dark blue democrat district where GOP leadership and the Tarrant County delegation decided to put me and my neighbors,” Cason said, a first-term Bedford Republican said Thursday. “To serve the residents of House District 92 has been one of the greatest honors of my life and I will always be grateful.”
Cason said he’s been asked to run in House District 93, but is opting not to. The seat is held by Rep. Matt Krause, a Fort Worth Republican who is running for Tarrant County district attorney.
“My wife and I do not believe in chasing a position by moving into a new community is the right thing to do,” he said. “Our roots are in House District 92. I have always been independent in thought and will always fight for principles over party.”
Three Democrats have filed to represent House District 92, Texas Secretary of State records show: Attorney and former Euless City Council member Salman Bhojani; Tracy Scott, the president of the Black Women’s PAC in Texas; and software architect Dinesh Sharma, who has been involved in local Democratic politics, according to his website. Records from the agency did not show a Republican having filed for the seat as of Thursday afternoon. Filing for the 2022 election ends Dec. 13.
District 92 currently encompasses Bedford, Euless, Hurst and parts of Arlington and Fort Worth. The new map is farther east. The district would have elected Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate MJ Hegar with about 58% of votes under the new boundaries, compared to the approximately 51% Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn won in 2020 with the current lines.
Cason on the House floor in October offered an amendment that he said would have made House District 93 Democratic leaning rather than House District 92. At the time, the seat was known to be open as Krause had planned to run for Texas attorney general. The amendment failed with all but two members of the local delegation voting against it.
The proposed map would have made it so there were seven Republican-leaning districts and four Democratic-leaning districts in the county, the same as under the new map, Cason said. Under the map that’s in effect now, there are three districts represented by Democrats.
“I’m not saying it gives everybody exactly what they want, but it stops the punishment of the voters who fought hard to send me to the Legislature,” he said.
Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, whom Cason asserted helped turn the district blue, raised concerns about Cason’s proposed map splitting communities of interest. He told the Star-Telegram Thursday the amendment would have carved up his district.
“I have an obligation and responsibility to make sure that my district was not cut up,” he said. “He had an opportunity to file more than one amendment. He did not.”
Fort Worth Republican Reps. Stephanie Klick and Craig Goldman, also named in Cason’s announcement, could not be reached for comment as of Thursday afternoon.
This story was originally published December 2, 2021 at 5:00 PM.
