AUSTIN, Texas — The exploratory committee is no more. Outspoken Austin City Council member Greg Casar on Thursday morning announced he will run for Congress in Texas’ 35^th District.

That seat is currently occupied by Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett. Doggett recently announced he will seek office in the newly drawn 37^th congressional district located in Austin.

The field is already a little more crowded. Democratic state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez on Thurday filed to run for the 35th as well. 

Casar is a progressive, an organizer and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who skews left of the national Democratic Party.

Speaking to Capital Tonight upon announcing an exploratory committee, Casar said Texas’ newly drawn congressional lines are discriminatory and said he has seen "kindergarteners be able to draw straighter lines."

He further said he has been frustrated with the Republican-led Legislature and feels it emphasizes the need for a "progressive champion" in Congress to have federal intervention.

"We need Congress to go and pass not just a $15 an hour minimum wage, but an automatic escalator to get us to $20 an hour with a stable retirement and health care," Casar said. “Immigration reform, canceling student debt, making sure that we have a stable retirement and not having Social Security get privatized by people on Wall Street. That's the kind of thing we want to get done in Congress.”