Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, announced Wednesday that he wouldn’t go up against Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the 2020 election.
“Right now, I’m going to focus on my work in the House of Representatives. I’ve been doing what I feel is important and meaningful work here,” he said in an interview with Hearst Newspapers. “If and when I run for another office, it is likely to be something that takes me back home to Texas.”
In March, Texas Monthly reported a source familiar with Castro’s thinking said he was “all but certain” he would run against Cornyn in 2020.
At the time, Castro’s campaign adviser Matthew Jones said: “We’ll be making an announcement in the very near future.”
Castro’s decision to step aside paves the way for Air Force veteran M.J. Hegar to run against Cornyn next year. She announced last month that she was launching a Senate campaign and warned Texas to “saddle up.”
“Unseating an entrenched incumbent senator is going to be tough, but I’ve faced worse odds in my life,” Hegar tweeted. “Saddle up, Texas. I’m in.”
Castro’s twin brother, Julián Castro, is the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and is running in the Democratic primary for the 2020 presidential election.
