Lloyd Doggett

Before 2012

In 1984 he lost the U.S. Senate election to then U.S. Representative Phil Gramm by a margin of 59 to 41 percent. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 in what was then the 10th district after 32-year incumbent Jake Pickle retired. He was one of the few Democrats to win an open seat in that year's massive Republican landslide. Running for re-election in 1996, Congressman Doggett defeated a challenger in Republican Teresa Doggett, to whom he is no relation. It marked the second election in a row in which he defeated a black female Republican. In the years following his first re-election, Doggett would consistently win around 85% of the vote, facing only Libertarian opponents. The 10th, which had once been represented by Lyndon Johnson, had long been a liberal Democratic bastion in increasingly Republican Texas.

Redistricting by the Texas Legislature in 2003 split Austin, which had been located entirely or almost entirely in the 10th district for more than a century, among three districts. Through Republican gerrymandering, Doggett's home wound up in a new, heavily Republican 10th district stretching from north central Austin to the Houston suburbs. Most of Doggett's former territory wound up on the 25th district, which consisted of a long tendril stretching from Austin to McAllen on the Mexican border. It was called "the fajita strip" or "the bacon strip" because of its shape. Doggett moved to the newly configured 25th and entered the Democratic primary—the real contest in the heavily Democratic, majority-Hispanic district. He won the primary and went on to victory in November.

On June 28, 2006, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the nearby 23rd district's lines violated the rights of Latino voters. As part of the 2003 redistricting, heavily Democratic and majority-Latino Laredo had largely been cut out of the 23rd and replaced by several heavily Republican areas near San Antonio. The decision turned on the fact that the 23rd was a protected majority-Latino district—in other words, if the 23rd was ever redrawn to put Latinos in a minority, an acceptable majority-Latino district had to be created in its place. While the new 23rd was 55% Latino, only 46% of its voting population was Latino. The Court therefore found that the 23rd was not an acceptable Latino-majority district. It also found that the 25th was not compact enough to be an acceptable replacement because the two Latino communities in the district were more than 300 miles apart, creating the impression that it had been deliberately drawn to pick up as many Latinos as possible without regard to compactness.[3]

Due to the size of the 23rd, the ruling forced the redrawing of five districts between El Paso and San Antonio, including the 25th. For the 2006 election, Doggett regained most of his old base in Austin (though not the area around the University of Texas at Austin, which stayed in the 21st), and also picked up several suburbs southeast of the city. After skating to reelection in 2006 and 2008, he was held to only 52 percent of the vote in 2010—his closest race since 1996.

2012

It was reported that the new Congressional maps in Texas turned Doggett's district from a strongly Democratic district into a strongly Republican one.[4] The new map split Doggett's old territory among five districts. His home was placed in a new, heavily Republican 25th district stretching from east Austin all the way to the fringes of Fort Worth. Much of his old base, however, was placed in the newly created 35th district, a majority-Hispanic district stretching from San Antonio to eastern Austin.[5] Doggett's home was located approximately five blocks east of the 35th. It appeared that the Republican-controlled state legislature had gerrymandered the district by packing as many Democrats in the San Antonio-Austin corridor into it as possible.[6]

Doggett accused the Republicans of wanting to make it difficult, if not impossible, for an Anglo Democrat to be elected to Congress from Texas, saying, "The Republican Party is determined to make the Democratic Party a party of minorities — that is what this is about, as well." He added that the Republicans were deliberately trying to reduce Austin's clout in Congress by "deny(ing) the capital city an opportunity to have a district that reflects the capital city." He was faced with the choice between running in the reconfigured 25th or moving, joking that he would live in a Winnebago to be able to run in the newly created 35th.[7]

Doggett was set to face State Representative Joaquin Castro in the 35th district primary election. The potential race was described as the biggest threat to Doggett's survival yet, with Castro being seen as a "rising star" in the Democratic party. Doggett accused Castro of working alongside Republicans throughout the redistricting process. The Republican House Redistricting Committee later clarified, saying that any discussions with Castro took place after the area for the district was decided.[8] However, Castro opted to run in the neighboring 20th district after its incumbent, Charlie Gonzalez, announced his retirement.

Doggett eventually decided to run in the 35th district, facing Bexar County assessor Sylvia Romo. Before the primaries, he said that he would move into the district if he were to win. Political commentators suggested that Romo had the district numbers in her favor, but was attempting the difficult leap from local office to Congress, while Doggett had a huge amount of funding. Doggett has stressed his long tenure as a progressive Democrat, saying he wants to "stoutly defend Social Security, Medicare, and national health care, and also notes his strong support for both higher education programs and public education." By contrast, Romo's campaign stressed her tax knowledge and CPA license, focusing on her potential to help with Congressional tax reform and economic growth.[6]

Doggett won the primary with 73.2% of the vote.[9] He performed strongly in San Antonio, an area he had never before represented. The district is so heavily Democratic that he was heavily favored to win the general election in November.[10] He easily defeated Republican challenger Susan Narvaiz in the general election to become the first Anglo Democrat to represent a significant portion of San Antonio since Chick Kazen left office in 1985.

2016

Doggett won his twelfth term in the U.S. House in the general election held on November 8, 2016. With 124,612 votes (63.1 percent), he defeated the Republican Susan Griffith Narvaiz (born 1957) of San Marcos, who polled 62,384 ballots (31.6 percent). Two other contenders held the remaining 5.4 percent of the ballots cast.[11]

Described as an "endangered species", Doggett was one of only three white male Democratic House members from Texas in the 113th Congress (the others being Gene Green and Beto O'Rourke) in a state with mostly Republicans and minority members of the Democratic Party.[12] Following the retirements of Green and O'Rourke in the 2018 election, Doggett is the only white male Democrat representing Texas in Congress. He is one of the most liberal white Democrats from a Southern district, and one of the most liberal congressmen ever to represent Texas in Congress. His tax and environmental policies were described as "muscular progressivism" by David Hawkings of Roll Call.[13]

Doggett was a frequent critic of Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker, while allying with David Bonior, the Democratic Minority Whip, when Bonior was leading "an effort to diminish Gingrich's power by raising continual questions about his ethics."[14] He has been a close ally of Nancy Pelosi. In 2002, he supported her successful bid for Party House leader over fellow Texan Martin Frost, a more moderate candidate.[15]

On the local level, Doggett helped ensure the development of the Austin Outpatient Clinic, which opened in 2011 as the largest veterans' clinic of its kind in the country.[16] In 2014, he secured passage of legislation to expand the Missions National Park and supported it being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[17]

Doggett has long supported more open government, and is also a leading advocate for campaign finance reform. On the Ways and Means Committee, he has sought to close many overseas tax shelters. Doggett has authored legislation to create tax incentives for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and to create a nationwide Silver Alert system. From 2011 to 2016, he served as ranking member on the Human Resources Subcommittee and in 2017 became ranking on the Tax Policy Subcommittee. His priorities there have included education, health care, preventing child abuse, reducing prescription drug prices, fighting poverty, and eliminating multinational tax shelters and loopholes.

Abortion

Doggett is pro-choice. In 2003 he voted against a bill that would have banned all partial-birth abortions. He was given a 100% by the NARAL.[18] He voted in favor of a bill to provide federal funding for embryonic stem cell research in 2007.

Environment

Doggett supports environmental preservation. He is one of the leading opponents in the House of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska. The League of Conservation Voters gives Doggett a 100 percent rating,[19] an indication Doggett supports that group's interpretation of environmental preservation. In the 110th Congress (2007–08), he wrote climate change legislation that would have gone further to reduce greenhouse gases than bills supported by his party's leaders.[20]

In June 2009, Doggett voted in favor of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a bill that would have established an emissions trading system for American producers of carbon dioxide. Doggett remarked "It has been a difficult and significant decision". "I just decided that I will have a better chance to make changes later in the process if I acted in good faith now. But don't think this means I'm signing off on the conference report", Doggett added.[21]

In 2018, Doggett was rated 100% by the group Clean Water Action.[22]

Gay rights

Doggett voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in the 109th Congress. He voted against HR 4380 and HR 2587, bills that would have banned adoption by same-sex couples.[23] In 1996, Doggett voted for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), but became a cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA, in 2011.[24][25]

Taxes

Doggett introduced legislation focused on restricting American companies from using overseas strategies to reduce their corporate tax rates. When Obama unveiled his plan in May 2009 to significantly change how U.S.-based multinationals are taxed, it included aspects of Doggett's proposals to crack down on tax dodgers.[26] He voted against the 2010 tax compromise, criticizing the renewal of the Bush tax cuts, saying "This bill is largely a mish-mash of rejected Republican ideas that cost too much to accomplish too little."[27] He led a group of Democrats who "criticized the inclusion of a Social Security payroll tax reduction, saying it would endanger the soundness of the program."[15]

In 2010, Doggett was responsible for an amendment to an education jobs bill which would mandate Texas keeping the same amount of education funding for three years in order to receive $832 million in federal money. Rick Perry called it "an unconstitutional anti-Texas amendment" and would later file a lawsuit after the Department of Education declined the application for funds.[15][28]

In 2015, Doggett introduced legislation to close a loophole that allows tax write-offs for senior executive bonuses, calling it "a perverse incentive for companies: the more you pay your executives, the less you'll pay in taxes."[29][30]

Energy

Doggett has backed bills with the intention of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting cap-and-trade as well as clean technologies. Doggett supported the 2009 climate-change bill, "despite claiming it didn't do enough to protect the environment." He said it stripped the EPA of too much power and was too beneficial to coal plants and "other polluters." Doggett supports auctioning carbon allowances, and has worked to make legislation usually associated with the House Ways and Means Committee to be associated with the Energy and Commerce Committee.[15][31]

In June 2015, Doggett voted against fast-track Trade Promotion Authority, calling it a "charter for corporate America rather than a high-level trade agreement." He criticized the U.S. Trade Representative for failing to enforce labor and environmental standards. "Usually, the reason that USTR fails is that it doesn't really try," he said. 'Asleep at the Wheel' is a great Texas swing band, but it is a horrible philosophy for trade law enforcement."[32]

In 2015, his continued interest in international affairs was reflected in his leadership supporting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iran nuclear deal. Together with Congressman David Price and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Doggett organized a successful whip effort to ensure Congress did not obstruct nuclear negotiations with Iran.[33][34]

Healthcare

In March 2010, Doggett voted in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Prior to his vote, Doggett cited concerns with the bill not including enough affordability, insurance competition provisions, and consumer protection provisions. Originally an advocate of a public option, he conceded the option in the final vote.[15]

In 2015, Congress passed Rep. Doggett's NOTICE Act, which ensures that hospitalized seniors are notified whether they are in outpatient observation or inpatient care, saving them the sticker shock from realizing Medicare may not cover their skilled nursing facility care as expected. Doggett sponsored the Medicare Identity Theft Prevention Act, which was enacted into law in 2015 and which protects seniors from identity theft by removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards. Another of Doggett's sponsored bills, the Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act, was enacted that same year. This legislation allows patients with rare disease to receive some compensation for clinical trial participation, without that compensation counting toward income eligibility limits for Social Security income or Medicaid.[35]

Doggett says the same Republicans in Congress and "ideological groups that have never accepted the idea of social insurance" pose a greater threat to Social Security than the country's aging population.[36]

Doggett founded the House Prescription Drug Task Force to tackle the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs.[37]

After pressure from both the Austin and San Antonio DSA, Doggett co-sponsored the Medicare for All Act of 2019.[38]

Criticism of healthcare opponents

In August 2009 a "rally" against the health care plans broke out after Doggett said that he would support the bill even if his constituents were opposed to the legislation. The protesters, who chanted "just say no", were later criticized by Doggett, who called them a "mob" and "extremists", and said the group was part of the "party of no."[39] Of the situation, he said: "Their fanatical insistence on repealing Social Security and Medicare is not just about halting health care reform but rolling back 75 years of progress." Doggett stated that he was committed to individual choices.

Doggett reportedly tried to answer questions, but felt the demonstrators opposed all government programs, including Social Security and Medicare, in addition to the health care plan. He said that "[i]n Texas, not only with the weather but with the politics, it is pretty hardball around here ... I have a pretty thick skin about all of this. But this really goes over the line.'"[40]

Immigration

Doggett supports a guest worker program for undocumented immigrants. In 2004, he voted against a bill that would have required hospitals to report undocumented immigrants who received hospital treatment to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Federation for American Immigration Reform gave him a score of 0% in 2003.[41]

Doggett also supports the Obama Administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which grants undocumented immigrants brought to the United States at a young age, known as "Dreamers", access to work permits and deportation relief.[42]

Iraq

Doggett was one of the leading opponents of the authorization of the Iraq War in 2003 and called for a timetable for U.S. troops pulling out of Iraq. On May 24, 2007, Doggett was one of 140 Democrats and 2 Republicans to vote against HR 2206, a bill that would provide emergency supplemental appropriations for funding the war, and in 2009 he was one of only 30 Representatives to vote against HR 2346 which provided funding to continue war.[43]

Education

In 2009, as part of the Obama Administration's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Doggett authored the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which provides a refundable credit for some tuition and related expenses.[44]

Other social service issues

Rep. Doggett passed a bill into law in January 2013 setting up a national commission to examine ways to reduce the number of children who die from abuse and neglect.[45] More children die in Texas from abuse and neglect than in any other state.[46] The tax and spending deal approved that month to avoid a so-called "fiscal cliff" included an extension of a higher-education tax credit he had proposed. He also worked with Texas Republican Sam Johnson to pass a bill through the House in December 2012 to authorize the phased removal of Social Security numbers from Medicare cards to crack down on identity theft.[47]

Trump administration

In 2017, he has been a vocal critic of President Trump, skipping the inauguration to speak at the Women's March at the State Capitol in Austin, which observers have described as the largest protest in Texas history.[48] [49] He has played a leading role in seeking disclosure of the president's tax returns and in opposing the repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act.[50] Doggett also sponsored a resolution to formally censure the president for his failure regarding violence at Charlottesville, Virginia.[51]

• Committee on Ways and Means
  • Subcommittee on Health (Chairman)
  • Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee
• Joint Committee on Taxation
• House Budget Committee

• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• House Songwriters Caucus (Co-Chair)
• United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus[52]
• Congressional Arts Caucus[53]
• Safe Climate Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus[54]
• House Baltic Caucus[55]
• Afterschool Caucuses[56]
• Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus[57]