Two well-known North Texas political figures are set to face each other in the March 3 primary, with early voting beginning in about two months.
Former Congressman Colin Allred dropped out of the U.S. Senate race to run for a newly drawn congressional seat, where he will face Congresswoman Julie Johnson, D-Farmer’s Branch, in Dallas County.
The matchup follows Republican-led redistricting that reshaped North Texas congressional boundaries, forcing several prominent Democrats to compete for fewer seats.
“We need to have our best players on the field at a time like this,” Allred said on NBC 5’s Lone Star Politics.
Allred argues he is the strongest candidate to represent the new majority-minority district and has criticized Johnson’s recent stock sales while serving in Congress.
“I take a real issue with that, because for six years in Congress, I never traded a single stock. Because I did not believe that it was ethical. We have access to insider information. And I thought, even though it was permissible under the rules that we had at that time, that we should change that,” Allred said.
Allred built his Senate campaign around anti-corruption policies and has carried that message into the congressional race.
“I think it’s gross,” he said. “She’s been there for less than a year, and she’s spent her time trading hundreds of stocks, making herself fantastically wealthier, while people out here in Texas in the real world are struggling to get by.”
Johnson responded in the Dallas Morning News, saying she is divesting her finances to comply with legislation she has co-sponsored that would ban stock trading by members of Congress.
“I have been divesting, liquidating, and selling off all of my stock accounts to be in compliance with the stock trading ban,” Johnson said.
In a statement issued when Allred filed to run against her, Johnson framed the contest as a broader pattern she says women face in politics. Allred lost to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2024 and later exited the Senate race after Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett entered.
“A lot of women have had a similar experience where men vacate, women get promoted, the men don’t succeed, and then they try to swoop back down and kick the women out of their spot,” Johnson wrote.
Johnson also addressed Allred’s candidacy during an interview on Lone Star Politics.
“He was soundly rejected by the voters in the last election cycle, and he’s been soundly rejected this cycle. And I think he needs to take some introspection and look at why he couldn’t poll more favorably,” Johnson said.
With early voting roughly two months away, the campaign has already turned combative. The seat was drawn to favor a Democratic candidate, meaning the winner of the primary is widely expected to win the general election.
Johnson recently secured endorsements from several top Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Democratic Whip Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, and Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Pete Aguilar of California.
“Julie Johnson is a trusted member of our caucus who delivers results,” the leaders said in a statement reported by the Dallas Morning News. “She has been an active legislator, advancing bills that focus on lowering costs, protecting health care, and strengthening the economy for working families. She shows up prepared, works across the caucus, and puts her constituents first.”
Allred previously served three terms representing the 32nd Congressional District before running unsuccessfully against Cruz in 2024. Voters later elected Johnson to succeed him. Republican lawmakers then redrew District 32 to extend into East Texas near the Louisiana border, making it far more favorable to Republicans.
Allred has said Johnson is not entitled to represent the newly configured district and argues he better understands voters in a majority-minority seat.
“We are losing representation from Black and brown voices across the state because of this racist gerrymander by President Trump that was intended to squeeze out more seats but particularly to target majority-minority districts,” Allred told the News. “It’s kind of outrageous for anybody to think that they’re entitled to any district anywhere, especially one that’s not theirs, but particularly to a majority-minority one.”
Republican lawmakers redrew Texas’ congressional maps over the summer. While a lower court ruled the maps violated the U.S. Constitution by racially gerrymandering districts, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed them to remain in effect while appeals continue.
Shortly afterward, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett entered the U.S. Senate race, prompting Allred to exit and seek a return to Congress.
Political analysts predict that the race will likely draw significant attention.
“This is going to be a primary election that lots of people will be watching for the show as well as for the result,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, in an interview with the News.
Both candidates point to their records of delivering federal resources to North Texas. Johnson cites $15 million in funding, including allocations in a recent spending bill, and says she has introduced more legislation than any other freshman member of Congress. Allred states that he secured $135 million in federal funding for the region during his tenure.
Great Job Phil Prazan & the Team @ NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth for sharing this story.
