Strama to retire from Texas House, mulls run for Austin mayor

"It's been a truly wonderful experience, a great honor, and all that stuff," he wrote. "At the same time, it's been frustrating and at times disheartening, especially since the 2010 elections reset the balance of power in the Texas Legislature in such a lopsided way."

Strama's first session was in 2005 after he defeated incumbent Rep. Jack Stick, a Republican, in a heated race for House District 50, a swing district that tends to produce moderates on either side of the aisle.

Strama entered the House when Democrats were in the minority and then enjoyed a rebound until they were just one seat shy of Republicans in 2009.

In 2010, Republicans came back with a vengeance and earned a super majority, leaving House Democrats with almost no power and a raft of legislation to fight unsuccessfully.

Strama said he would miss the House floor, which he called "one of the 100 most interesting places in America."

"In a space the size of a basketball court, you have 150 people who are, by definition, representative of 150 distinct geographic regions of Texas," Strama wrote. "I remember being struck when I first got there how you could walk down the aisles of the Texas House and hear every single regional dialect from across the state (and a few from New York.)"

He also said he would miss representing his district and thanked the constituents for letting him serve them for 10 years.

"I'll continue to do my best for you for the remainder of my term in office," he wrote.