Rashad Lewis, the Democratic candidate for Texas’ 36th Congressional District, stands in a vacant lot across from his house, he plans on turning into a community garden, while clearing the trees there Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020 in Jasper, Texas. Lewis, 34, a lumberjack by trade, ran an insurgent write-in campaign to become the youngest person JASPER — With no political experience, Rashad Lewis won a seat on the Jasper City Council as a write-in candidate in 2017. Three years later, he’s attempting to flip one of the nation’s most conservative districts blue as the first Black candidate to run for it. A 34-year-old independent logger who lives and works in Jasper, Lewis is targeting young and marginalized voters while contending with a disinterested Democratic Party and his hometown’s racist past. He’s hoping that the political optimism that has led the party to redouble its efforts in other Texas districts will in some way also touch Congressional District 36, which encompasses eight deep-red East Texas counties and part of southeastern Harris County. The seat is held by U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, a Republican from Woodville who is a dentist by trade. At 31, Lewis was the youngest candidate in Jasper […]
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