James Cargas
One of the themes of this year’s election is the large number of people who are new to electoral politics getting involved. That has led to a huge number of first-time candidates throwing their hats into every ring imaginable. That’s not true for everyone you’ll see on your ballot – some have done this before, often more than once, in cycles where they had far less company. James Cargas falls into the latter group, having been the Democratic candidate in CD07 in each of the last three elections. An attorney with a background in energy law and policy, Cargas has worked on Capitol Hill and on various committees with the last three Mayors. Here’s our conversation:
You can see all of my Congressional interviews as well as finance reports and other information on candidates on my 2018 Congressional Election page.
I’ve known James Cargas now for almost 14 years, and I’m convinced he’s absolutely the best (perhaps the only) qualified candidate in this race. James was out slogging in the trenches during the previous 3 election cycles, with increasing support each time. He didn’t have to move here from out of state to run for this office; he was already here fighting Culberson’s lack of support for area transit and drainage projects. He didn’t change parties, and he didn’t need the Trump “tweak” to know his service was needed; he’s been a Democratic Party activist for 2 decades, unlike some others in the race who have no history of grassroots democratic activism and opportunistically decided to run when the district was labeled by the national media as winnable. I’m not saying all the other candidates are opportunists (well, maybe I am), just that it was James’ work fighting Culberson for the past 8 years that made this race a competitive one in the first place.
Thank you for the opportunity to talk about this race and the issues impacting TX-07 in more than just 30-60 second sound bites.
Just want to clarify that I am the Senior Assistant City Attorney responsible for the City of Houston’s energy and other procurement. My “background in energy law” makes me a current public servant for the people of Houston, not a member of a law firm or corporate staff …. although many such energy lawyers did elect me President of the Energy Bar Association’s Houston Chapter last year.