The Republican Primary for Texas’ 8th Congressional District is shaping up to be a very crowded field. However, the race for the open seat being vacated by longtime Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX) has become a little less crowded due to redistricting.
In the wake of redistricting, businesswoman Paulette Carson has announced she will be suspending her campaign for the open 8th District and will instead challenge Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX) in the GOP primary for the 17th District. The new congressional maps approved by the Texas Legislature moved Trinity County, where Carson resides, from the 8th District to the 17th District.
“The newly drawn Congressional Districts, coupled with my long-time residency in Trinity County, compel me to pivot my campaign to Congressional District 17,” said Carson.
“Even though the Texas Congressional redistricting map was a time-consuming effort for our State Legislators via a Special Session, we trust that the best decisions have been made to keep Texas red and to position Republicans to take back the House in 2022.”
The newly configured 17th District stretches from the suburbs north of Austin to Nacogdoches in East Texas.
Sessions, a former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, was born in Waco, in the hearth of the 17th District. However, he has spent most of his adult life in Dallas and Washington D.C. He represented a Dallas area district in Congress from 1997 until he was defeated by Democrat Collin Allred (D-TX) in the 2018 blue wave election.
Instead of trying to retake his Dallas seat from Allred, Session instead moved back to his hometown of Waco and ran successfully for District 17, which had become an open seat with the retirement of Bill Flores.
Carson is a businesswoman and non-profit founder. She has been active in Republican Party politics for many years. Carson has filed the paperwork to run in the GOP primary and will appear on the 2022 primary ballot.
Questions? Comments? Thoughts? We want to hear from you! Contact the editor by email at reaganreednews@gmail.com or by phone at 936-777-0743.
Texas Citizen Journal 