Gregorio Casar

Gregorio Eduardo Casar is a Democratic politician representing Texas's 35th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Born in Houston to Mexican immigrant parents, Casar attended Strake Jesuit College Preparatory before earning a Bachelor of Arts in political science and social thought from the University of Virginia in 2011. Before entering public office, he worked as a labor organizer and policy director for the Workers Defense Project, where he successfully advocated for rest and water breaks for construction workers and living wage requirements. Casar was first elected to the Austin City Council in 2014, becoming its youngest-ever member at age 25. During his tenure from 2015 to 2022, he authored paid-sick-leave ordinances and pushed for affordable housing reforms and criminal justice changes. He was elected to Congress in November 2022 and assumed office on January 3, 2023. In the House, he serves as the whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and is a member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Agriculture.

Casar identifies as a progressive Democrat and supports a 'Medicare for All' single-payer healthcare system, viewing healthcare as a fundamental human right. He advocates for significant economic reforms, including raising the federal minimum wage, expanding labor protections, and increasing taxes on corporations and high-income earners to fund social programs like universal childcare and public housing. On immigration, he emphasizes addressing the 'root causes' of migration such as poverty and violence in Latin America, while calling for a pathway to citizenship and more humane border policies. Regarding the environment, Casar supports a Green New Deal and has proposed legislation to connect the Texas power grid to the national grid to improve reliability and promote renewable energy. His foreign policy stance focuses on human rights and diplomacy; he has advocated for suspending offensive military transfers to Israel, ending broad-based economic sanctions that exacerbate poverty, and removing Cuba from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list.