Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, became the first elected Democrat to call on President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, saying “too much is at stake.”

Acknowledging Biden’s accomplishments for his party, Doggett said in a Tuesday statement that “many Americans have indicated dissatisfaction with their choices in this election.”

“President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump. I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not. Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies,” Doggett said.

‘IT’S TIME TO RIP THE BAND AID OFF!’: FORMER LONGTIME DEMOCRAT LAWMAKER URGES BIDEN TO STEP ASIDE FOR HARRIS

“Our overriding consideration must be who has the best hope of saving our democracy from an authoritarian takeover by a criminal and his gang,” he continued. “Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory — too great a risk to assume that what could not be turned around in a year, what was not turned around in the debate, can be turned around now.”

“President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020. He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024,” he added.

Amid his call for Biden to withdraw, Doggett reflected on the “painful” decision made by former President Lyndon Johnson not to seek re-election to the White House in 1968.

“I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson. Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same,” the Texas lawmaker said. “While much of his work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional.”

Doggett claimed Biden “has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process.”

“My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved. Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden’s first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so,” he concluded.

This is a developing story.

HAYS COUNTY, Texas – In April 2023, a Hays County woman survived a fentanyl overdose. She was in the throes of an addiction that nearly killed her. Today, she credits a program called Neighborhood Defender Service for her sobriety.

Meaghan Callahan said April 26, 2023, is the day that changed her life forever.

“I don’t remember anything except for waking up to the first responders around me and I really had no idea what had happened,” Callahan said.

Callahan had overdosed on fentanyl. EMS administered four doses of Narcan and saved her life.

“When I came to, and I really just got my senses about me, in that jail cell, I was grateful to even be in a jail cell, it gave me a new lease on life,” Callahan said.

Callahan was in jail and charged with multiple felonies for possession. Police said marijuana was in plain view, and they also found several other types of drugs. Two kids, both under the age of five, were just feet away and were being taken care of by a roommate.

“Children do not deserve to be wrapped up in that world,” Callahan said.

Callahan said she had relapsed. She is a recovering alcoholic and blamed herself, at the time, for trying to get sober alone.

“Even though it was self-medicating, I was trying to treat my alcoholism with the studies that have been done by microdosing ketamine and mushrooms and I felt like that would help me as well as the CBD and cannabis that was found, I thought that that would help me with my postpartum depression to be honest,” Callahan said.

MORE CRIME WATCH STORIES:

It almost cost her her life.

“You can’t really fix yourself; you’ve got to go outside yourself to the community and the professionals to get help,” Callahan said.

Callahan was given that opportunity. She was represented by an attorney with the Neighborhood Defender Service, specifically for Hays County.

“We try to help the client instead of just trying to help the case,” Neighborhood Defender Service Texas Meenu Walters said.

NDS staff have been handling about 25 percent of all Hays County cases since 2023. Walters said they use a holistic, team-based model of defense, which includes not only lawyers, but social workers, client advocates, and investigators.

“Something that we can try to work on is building out and identifying community-based options for people so that if we can get in and get people the help that they need outside the system, maybe the system is not what they rely on for help,” Walters said.

“I had a whole team around me to really help me just get better,” Callahan said.

A judge gave her a second chance. All of Callahan’s charges were dropped. She’s now in recovery and wants to help others.

“I want to give hope to the people out there that are in active addiction or love people that know there is a solution and there’s a huge team of us waiting to help,” Callahan said.

She encourages people to ask for help because she said a wonderful life is on the other side.