1. Gregorio Eduardo Casar was born on May 4,1989 and is an American politician who is the member for Texas's 35th congressional district in the United States Congress since 2023.
35 Facts About Greg Casar
1. 2.
Greg Casar served as a member of the Austin City Council from the 4th district from 2015 to 2022.
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Greg Casar was first elected to the Austin City Council in 2014, representing District 4.
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Gregorio Casar was born in Houston to two Mexican immigrants and is a Catholic.
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Greg Casar grew up in the enclave of Bellaire and attended Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, where he ran track.
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Greg Casar then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and social thought from the University of Virginia in 2011.
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Greg Casar began his activism in college, organizing with Students and Workers United for a Living Wage, which called for the university to pay its workers a higher living wage.
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Greg Casar organized against major corporations, including White Lodging, and successfully led the fight to include living wage and other labor protections in an incentives deal the Austin City Council planned to give to Apple.
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Greg Casar finished first in the election, but went into a runoff against Laura Pressley, an anti-fluoride activist.
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Greg Casar won the runoff, but Pressley sued to contest the results, claiming ballot irregularities.
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In 2016, Greg Casar was reelected to Austin City Council in the same election in which Donald Trump was elected president.
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In 2020, Greg Casar was elected for a third time to the Austin City Council.
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Greg Casar was the first person to represent Austin's District 4, the city's most diverse district.
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Greg Casar served as the board chair of Local Progress, a project of the Center for Popular Democracy, "the national network of progressive elected officials from cities, counties, towns, school districts, villages and other local governments across the country".
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Greg Casar resigned his seat on November 4,2021, when he announced his run for the US House of Representatives in the 35th district.
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On November 4,2021, Greg Casar announced his candidacy for Texas's 35th congressional district.
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Greg Casar was among the 46 Democrats who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.
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On July 25,2023, Greg Casar led a thirst strike advocating for better heat protection after a law passed in Texas overrode local ordinances such as water and rest breaks.
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The strike lasted for nine hours and Greg Casar took no breaks nor did he eat or drink.
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In 2016, Greg Casar led efforts at City Hall to "ban the box" through a fair chance hiring ordinance.
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Greg Casar wrote in a Texas Tribune editorial that the Freedom Cities law's intention is to unite immigration reformers and criminal justice reformers to reduce the disparate impact of policing on communities of color.
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The Democratic Socialists of America, AURA, and other community groups joined Greg Casar in pushing for a $300 million bond after the city's staff proposed less than $100 million.
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Greg Casar cited the ordinance as an example of his approach to housing politics in an op-ed, writing that "our pro-housing and anti-gentrification movements can co-exist" and that building more housing does not have to mean displacing low-income renters because housing can be built elsewhere in the city to avoid displacement and gentrification.
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Greg Casar saw the issue as advancing fair housing in the city, and AURA, a housing and transportation advocacy group, cited it as a way to integrate the city.
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In early 2015, after hearing of the successful campaign at Stonegate, Greg Casar received reports from North Lamar Community Mobile Home Park that the new owner had raised rent and utility costs.
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Greg Casar helped the tenants to form a tenants' association, Asociacion de los Residentes de North Lamar, through which the tenants organized a housing co-operative to buy and own their park.
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In 2017, Greg Casar joined other local and statewide leaders to protest Texas Senate Bill 4, which forces local officials to cooperate with federal immigration officials and punishes local officials, including with prison time, who decline to do so.
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Greg Casar proposed in a New York Times opinion piece that SB4 must be protested at every possible stage, lest laws like it be passed in other states.
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Greg Casar joined a coalition of grassroots organizations and elected officials from municipalities across the state to initiate a lawsuit against the State of Texas to overturn the law, the first statewide effort of its kind.
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Greg Casar expressed in 2021 that he believed the "[Israeli] occupation needs to end" and that US aid in supporting Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories should end, identifying his positions with those of Senator Bernie Sanders.
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However, after the Israeli bombardment of Gaza began in 2023, Greg Casar has been a proponent of an immediate ceasefire and has been opposed to offensive military aid for Israel.
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Greg Casar co-sponsored the Ceasefire Now Resolution introduced by Representative Cori Bush in October 2023.
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In 2015, Greg Casar aided fellow council member Ann Kitchen, who proposed raising the minimum wage paid to all City of Austin employees to $13.03 and offering health benefits for all employees, including part-time and temporary workers.
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In 2016, Greg Casar sponsored a resolution to extend the living wage requirement to all city contractors and subcontractors, such as airport food workers and construction workers.
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Greg Casar credited grassroots organizations with getting people to contact their council members to push them to vote for the ordinance through the organization's grassroots canvassing operation.