Houston’s Greg Travis will resign his city council seat to run for the Texas House of Representatives, the council member announced on Wednesday.
Travis, who represents Council District G, wrote in an email to constituents Wednesday night that he was leaving to run for Texas House District 133. That district is currently represented by House GOP caucus chair Jim Murphy, who announced last month that he would not seek reelection after seven terms in office.
"I am torn between representing you at Council or representing you at the State House in Austin. I have chosen the latter as I feel I can do more for our families, this District, and Houston in general as a State Representative," Travis wrote in an email announcing his decision.
Travis was vocal in his criticism of Houston's municipal government, calling city council's committees "superfluous and ineffectual." Shortly after his reelection in 2019, he declined his new committee appointments.
“They invoke a sense of responsibility without conveying any requisite authority,” Travis wrote in a letter to the mayor at the time. “Essentially, they are for presentation purposes and only for show.”
During the pandemic, Travis was a staunch opponent of mask mandates and chose not to wear a mask in council chambers once meetings resumed in person.
Mayor Sylvester Turner’s office confirmed that a council member seeking a state representative position triggers a resignation, and the city has 120 days to hold a special election to fill the vacancy.