Texas Democrats Colin Allred, Julie Johnson Head To Runoff Election

Allred held a strong lead against the congresswoman in Tuesday’s primary election, but fell short of the votes needed to win the race outright.

WASHINGTON ― Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas) and Democratic congressional candidate Colin Allred are headed to a runoff election after neither secured enough votes to win outright in Tuesday night’s primary election.

Allred had a strong lead in the race, but failed to win more than 50% of the vote as two other Democratic contenders pulled votes from him and Johnson. The two will now face each other exclusively in the runoff election on May 26.

Both are running to be the Democratic nominee for Texas’ 33rd Congressional District, which Republicans recently redrew amid partisan redistricting. Johnson currently represents the 32nd Congressional District, a Dallas-area community, and Allred jumped into the race in December after dropping a Senate bid.

Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas), who currently represents this district, isn’t running for reelection as the newly drawn map no longer includes a portion of Fort Worth, where he lives. This seat is solidly Democratic, meaning whoever wins the runoff will almost certainly go on to win the general election in November.

It’s been a testy primary. Allred previously endorsed Johnson in 2024, when she ran for the House seat he was leaving to run for Senate. But they led combative campaigns against each other after Allred abruptly decided to run against her this time around.