Congressman hopes to shake California blues by … running in Texas? | Opinion
The trend of Californians seeking better prospects in Texas has finally gone too far.
Republican U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, will reportedly announce Wednesday that he’s leaving his longtime San Diego-area home to seek election in Texas’ redrawn 32nd District. It’s currently Dallas-based and held by Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson but would sprawl from northeast Dallas County into East Texas if the new map of Texas’ 38 districts holds up in court.
It’s a direct consequence of the tit-for-tat redistricting wars of 2025. Texas leaders, egged on by President Donald Trump, enacted an unusual mid-decade redrawing of boundaries. They’re aiming to add five GOP seats in Washington at a time when Republicans are struggling to maintain control of the House.
California went one step further. Voters approved Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to dismantle an independent commission for drawing districts so legislators could flip GOP seats to Democrats. One of those would probably be Issa’s. The lawmaker reportedly will announce his bid Wednesday on North Texas talk-radio host Mark Davis’ show. (Davis is a Star-Telegram Opinion contributor.)
Issa would not be the first to reach his limit with California’s embrace of all things progressive and head for a red state. Not that that’s his motivation; it’s pure political expedience.
From a good-governance perspective, Issa has found a way to make the redistricting arms race even worse. If a Californian can swoop into a state where he’s never lived and win election to Congress, what’s to stop the reverse? Will any Texas Democrats decamp for Illinois?
Founders meant for House members to represent locals
It’s a perversion of how the Founders designed the U.S. House, the arm of the federal government meant to be closest to the people. The idea is that voters will send someone they know and trust to Washington to represent their particular areas.
What does Issa know about voters in places as different as Garland and Gilmer? It’s bad enough that these Frankenstein districts cobble together small towns with booming exurbs hundreds of miles away. At least if a Texan wins the district, there’s a chance the person has been around most of it longer than three months before asking for votes there.
It’s another step, too, in the dangerous nationalization of politics. Every congressional race seems driven by big national issues, which is OK to an extent, with little discussion of unique local concerns.
Congress has been ceding its power to the presidency for decades. If “representatives” are no longer tied to the areas that nominally elected them, Washington slides further toward a parliamentary-type system where partisan slates loyal to the person at the top of the ticket fill seats entirely based on party lines.
Voters in the new 32nd District could reject Issa, of course. But he’s been in Congress for more than two decades, has been a Republican leader and is a frequent Fox News guest. That means a lot of GOP primary voters probably recognize him more than any local candidate who might also run in the primary, especially considering how many will be voting in the new district for the first time.
It’s not that Issa isn’t qualified. He’s a former chairman of a major House committee and had successful military and business careers before entering politics. Surely he can learn the difference between Rockwall and Rowlett, and his seniority might even be a leg up for the district.
And yet, it’s just … pathetic. Pathetic to need to be in Congress that badly. Pathetic to think you’ve got more to offer than any of hundreds of thousands of locals. This isn’t about ensuring the district stays red or has a stalwart conservative representative. It’s raw ambition.
Little precedent for congressman jumping to another state
There’s little precedent for what Issa is trying to do. A few dozen lawmakers have represented more than one state, including one erstwhile Texan — Rep. Ed Foreman, who won a seat here and then one in New Mexico in the late 1960s. Most had the decency to sit out at least a term and pretend like they were unpacking and getting to know their new home. Issa wants to be on a new ballot in about four months.
Texans, of course, famously elected a former governor of Tennessee as president of the republic and later governor. He also represented Tennessee in the U.S. House and then Texas in the U.S. Senate. But to paraphrase another Texas politician’s famous putdown: “Congressman, you are no Sam Houston.”
Texans have seen enough new folks move in recently to drive up housing costs and clog highways. At least have a plate of brisket or two before you decide you want to lead us.
All this could be moot if the Supreme Court decides to put the new Texas map on hold to hear arguments about whether lawmakers illegally factored in race in drawing it. That could delay the primaries or mean the current districts hold over to the 2026 elections. Presumably, that would cause Issa to rediscover his affection for the Golden State.
Look, Texas remains “open for business,” as Gov. Rick Perry liked to say. We’re happy to welcome even more California firms and employees fleeing high taxes, cumbersome regulation and wacky social stances — especially if they understand they have to make sure not to vote in the same kind of schmucks who ruined their home state in the first place.
But opportunistic politicians with bad ideas? We’ve already got plenty of those, thanks.
