When Colin Allred ran his unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate against Ted Cruz, he gave up the District 32 congressional seat he’d held from 2019 to 2025. He was succeeded by sitting Democratic U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson.
Now, both see themselves campaigning for District 33 — a newly drawn district after Texas Republicans changed the congressional maps to make District 32 less hospitable to Democratic candidates.
It’s a race Southern Methodist University political science professor Calvin Jolson calls one of the more interesting contests in Texas politics.
"You don't normally get two incumbents, particularly one who left a congressional district, and then tries to return and runs against the person that replaced him,” Jillson said.
The unusual mid-year redistricting move by Texas Republicans caused a musical chairs-like shifting of Texas Democratic candidates in late 2025 that has left Johnson and Allred facing off in a combative race.
But that wasn’t the only falling domino that led to the race. Allred, who again briefly entered the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate this go-around, dropped out of that race in anticipation of U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crocket’s candidacy.
Johnson announced she was running for District 33 soon after her district was changed to favor Republicans. District 33's current incumbent, Marc Veasey, isn't running for reelection because the district was changed to remove a stretch of Fort Worth, where he lives.
Predecessor vs. Successor
The race between predecessor and successor is surprisingly combative. Johnson has accused Allred of consistently voting with Republicans on immigration issues. And Allred's campaign has focused on controversy surrounding Johnson's stock trading, particularly when she sold shares of the company Palantir, which works with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Johnson claims her trades were managed by an independent third party and she's divesting from companies.
"Voters can’t trust Julie Johnson to fight Donald Trump and ICE; they make her too much money," Allred's website states.
Despite this, Johnson has been working hard to secure endorsements from prominent Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York — something Jillson said could give her an edge.
"She's got more endorsements from sitting members of Congress and from the Congressional re-elect committees in Washington, and she's got strong public support as well,” Jillson said.
Jillson also said that Allred's path to the election has been a lot "shakier" than Johnson's because he dropped out of this year's Senate race last minute and then jumped to the House race.
But Allred does pose a serious challenge with his large campaign fund and heightened name recognition from the 2024 U.S. Senate race.
Matthew Wilson, a political science professor at SMU who has studied elections and public opinion, said he feels the odds are in Allred's favor. But he also said Allred and Johnson don't substantively differ on policy positions.
"I can't point to very many things where I think Julie Johnson and Colin Allred would cast different votes in Washington," Wilson said. "They both support the same broadly Democratic agenda, so it really does come down to a contrast of styles and personalities."
And even when it comes to style, they're not far apart, he said.
"Neither one is a bomb thrower; neither one has a reputation for being a firebrand, like say a Jasmine Crockett," Wilson said.
Both candidates have made affordability, immigration and anti-corruption core parts of their campaigns.
Early voting for the District 33 race begins Tuesday. Wilson said for a vast majority of the state, including District 33, elections aren't "two-party competitive," so whoever wins the primary will almost certainly win the general election.
Dylan Duke is KERA's Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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