Incumbent Texas Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, was projected to win the Democratic primary for his Texas Senate District 16 seat after a surprise challenge from a fellow North Texas lawmaker, according to the Associated Press.
As of late Tuesday night, Johnson had 65.43% of votes while Texas Rep. Victoria Neave Criado trailed with 34.57% of votes, according to unofficial results from the Texas Secretary of State’s Office. AP called the race for Johnson.
The incumbent Democrat declared victory on social media shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Grateful to be re-elected as your Texas Senator!
— Senator Nathan Johnson (@NathanForTexas) March 6, 2024
Thank you to all the voters who put their trust in me and my outstanding legislative team once again.
I'm honored to continue serving our district and our state, and I am looking forward to getting back to work! pic.twitter.com/tlvXVR9bQk
Neave Criado did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
District 16 includes nearly 1 million residents across parts of Dallas, Richardson, Irving and other cities. Johnson was first elected in 2018 when he defeated Republican incumbent Don Huffines. Johnson also beat his last challenger, Republican Brandon Copeland, in the 2022 general election.
Both Johnson and Neave Criado have campaigned on similar opposition to Republican legislation on immigration and school vouchers. But Neave Criado criticized Johnson during her campaign over his vote for an anti-human smuggling bill in the third special session of the 2023 Texas Legislature, which passed and increased the criminal penalty for human smuggling.
Johnson has called her characterization of his vote for that bill misleading. Lending to the confusion was the fact that it shares the same bill name as another Senate Bill 4, a law passed in the fourth special session that allows state and local law enforcement to arrest migrants suspected of entering the country illegally and has similarly been labeled a racial profiling bill by opponents.
As a member of the Senate committees on Jurisprudence, Administration, Business & Commerce and Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs, Johnson touted his track record of filing and passing bills across a range of issues like health care, energy and the environment. He authored 175 bills in the 88th legislative session.
In a February interview with KERA News, Johnson called it a difficult time for Democrats in Texas with losses on social issues in last year’s session but said he's hopeful for Texas' future, even if shaping it requires bipartisan effort.
“We are a state of contradictions, and it is time for us in government and us as a polity, to start recognizing those contradictions and fixing them,” Johnson said. “And we can do it.”
Despite the loss, Neave Criado will still vacate her House District 107 seat.
The lone candidate to replace her is Democrat Linda Garcia, a financial literacy expert originally from California.
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