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U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Sherman, is quitting Congress and running for his old seat in the Texas Senate.
Fallon filed Monday for Senate District 30, a seat that is newly open after its incumbent, Sen. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, announced Tuesday he would not seek reelection. That means Fallon will leave Congress at the end of his current term.
Fallon quickly earned the support of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful presiding officer of the upper chamber.
"At the end of the day, the decision came down to, If we lose Texas, we lose the nation," Fallon said in a brief interview. "It’s just terribly important to ensure that Texas has written a great success story and I want to keep moving that forward."
Fallon held the state Senate seat for two years prior to Springer. He called those "the best two years I ever spent" in politics.
Fallon gave up the seat to run for Congress in 2020 after former President Donald Trump tapped then-U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Heath, to be director of national intelligence.
Senate District 30 is a solidly Republican district that stretches from the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs up to the Oklahoma state line.
Patrick said in statement that SD-30 voters "couldn’t ask for a better candidate."
"Pat was a solid member when he served in the Senate, and now he returns from Washington with a wealth of new experience," Patrick said. "I am proud to endorse [Fallon] and look forward to joining him on the campaign trail."
Frisco trauma surgeon Carrie de Moor is already running in the GOP primary for SD-30. She was originally running against Springer before he announced his retirement.
Before serving in Congress and the state Senate, Fallon was a member of the Texas House.
Fallon’s decision to run for his old Texas Senate seat means there will be a vacancy in Texas’ 4th Congressional District. The district is safely Republican and covers a swath of northeast Texas.
Candidate filing for the March primary opened Saturday and closes Dec. 11.