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Austin, TX, 2 hours ago – The freshman senator class in the next Texas regular legislature is growing into a large one, with Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville) the newest incumbent announcing that he will not be re-elected.
During a press conference in Harlingen, Lucio said his retirement was a “new opportunity” to “do some of the things I’ve always wanted to do,” including spending more time with family and doing “his own personal service.”
Lucio’s announcement on Thursday is a reversal of a previous one he made this June when he said he was planning to be re-elected in Senate District (SD) 27 and said that “South Texas deserves a seasoned and savvy Austin lawmaker. ”
His resignation follows similar announcements from Sens. Dawn Buckingham (R-Lakeway), Jane Nelson (R-Flower Hill), and Kel Seliger (R-yellow).
The third senior senator During the legislative period in 1990, Lucio was elected to his South Texas district for the first time.
Like Seliger, Lucio was a longtime member of the legislature who was very popular with his colleagues across the aisle as he was often a decisive voice.
When it came to abortion in particular, Lucio often separated from his parliamentary group in order to support various pro-life initiatives including the Texas Heartbeat Act that is now before the Supreme Court.
While its pro-life awards earned the respect of many Republicans, it also drew the wrath of many Democrats who wanted to see him replaced with a more progressive one.
Lucio faced a competitive area code in the last election cycle in 2020, but still won his party’s nomination for the seat with a comfortable lead of 53.5 percent of the vote.
The race to fill the vacant seat could also become competitive, possibly in both the primaries and parliamentary elections.
Lucio’s son, Rep. Eddie Lucio III (D-Brownsville), Announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election. When asked if he would like to see his son succeed in the upper chamber, Lucio Jr. called in one Rio Grande Guardian Interview he “wants him to take over the baton”.
Lucio III said he wanted to “begin this next chapter in my life with a focus on family, friends and business”.
However, he’s not the only Brownsville representative who could bid on SD27.
State Representative Alex Dominguez (D-Brownsville) has already started running for the seat with former Senator Wendy Davis allegedly listed as its treasurer. Dominguez’s consideration of a run came after the legislature moved him to the house district of Lucio III to relocate its current district in favor of the Republicans.
However, Lucio Jr. is reported to have said that Dominguez is “making a big mistake because he doesn’t have a résumé”.
“He has achieved nothing. He just followed. He didn’t lead, ”said Lucio.
But Lucio doesn’t approve of any other potential candidate in the race either, the Republican who penned the change pairing of Dominguez and Lucio III: Rep. JM Lozano (R-Kingsville).
Lozano, once a Democratic member of the legislature, changed his affiliation with the shifting partisan currents in South Texas, going from a critic of the Republican redistribution in 2011 to an ardent supporter of the new cards in 2021.
“[Lozano] is known to many in my new district, Nueces, where I was warmly welcomed. You can’t help but tell me that he’s cheating on you and that he’s just not telling the truth, ”Lucio said in the Rio Grande Guardian Interview. “I hope he changes, but we don’t have a friend in Rep Lozano.”
With the sweeping GOP wins With the 2020 presidential election on the border and a recent Republican victory in a competitive runoff at San Antonio House, some Republicans are undoubtedly hopeful of a seat in the South Texas Senate.
Winning SD 27 would be an uphill battle for the Republicans, but such a victory is within reach.
Voting within the new district lines has gone in different ways for the great Republicans in recent years. In 2018, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) received 41 percent of the vote, while Governor Greg Abbott received 48 percent. In 2020, President Donald Trump received 47 percent while Senator John Cornyn received 46 percent.
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Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. Backtracks on Re-Election Bid, Announces Retirement
