AT A GLANCE
- Colin Allred has ended his 2026 Democratic Senate campaign on the final day of filing, saying a crowded primary would splinter the party and boost Republicans.
- Allred is now running for the newly drawn 33rd Congressional District, a Dallas-area seat reshaped by GOP-led redistricting and left competitive for Democrats.
- His switch sets up a primary matchup with Rep. Julie Johnson, who currently holds the seat Allred once vacated but lost her district in the mid-decade map overhaul.
- The move clears the Senate field for Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico, easing Democratic fears of a May runoff and allowing the nominee to pivot sooner toward the general election.
Former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred abruptly withdrew from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on the state’s filing deadline, shifting instead to a congressional comeback bid in Texas’ newly configured 33rd Congressional District. Allred, who represented Dallas in Congress for three terms, said the move was driven by concerns that a fractured Democratic field would force a costly runoff and weaken the party before November.
Allred spent nearly half a year positioning himself for a statewide challenge after losing to Sen. Ted Cruz in 2024. His 2026 Senate bid began in July with strong name recognition and the early lead in several general-election polls against Attorney General Ken Paxton. But his path narrowed quickly. State Rep. James Talarico entered the race in September, and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett signaled she would follow with an announcement of her own. Their rise, powered by national profiles and viral fundraising, reshaped the Democratic landscape almost overnight.
On Friday, Allred said the potential for a divisive Democratic fight risked splintering the party at a moment when Donald Trump and a Republican field featuring Paxton, Sen. John Cornyn, and Rep. Wesley Hunt pose what he called “danger to our communities and our Constitution.”
“In the past few days, I’ve come to believe that a bruising Senate Democratic primary and runoff would prevent the Democratic Party from going into this critical election unified,” he said. “That’s why I’ve made the difficult decision to end my campaign for the U.S. Senate.”
Allred will now run in the Dallas-based 33rd District, one of the few remaining Democratic-leaning seats under the new map the U.S. Supreme Court allowed to stand last week. The boundaries combine pieces of three former Democratic districts and include roughly a third of the residents Allred once represented before giving up his seat to run statewide.
The new lines push out current Rep. Marc Veasey, whose Fort Worth base was cut from the district. Veasey is expected to seek the 30th District if Crockett enters the Senate race, according to a source familiar with internal discussions.
Allred’s shift sets up a head-to-head primary with Rep. Julie Johnson, his successor in Congress. Johnson won the 32nd District seat in 2024 but saw her district dismantled by the Republican-controlled Legislature’s mid-decade redraw. Both are now vying for the new 33rd, an area Allred described as the heart of his political and personal identity.
“The 33rd district was racially gerrymandered by Trump in an effort to further rig our democracy, but it’s also the community where I grew up attending public schools and watching my mom struggle to pay for our groceries,” Allred said. He pointed to previous accomplishments there, including spearheading the Garland VA hospital and securing more than $135 million for affordable housing, health care, and transportation.
Democratic worry over the Senate primary had simmered since the summer, when Allred, Talarico, Beto O’Rourke and Rep. Joaquin Castro met privately to explore forming a coordinated slate for statewide offices. Those talks collapsed as each weighed their own political ambitions. Only Allred and Talarico ultimately filed for Senate.
But Crockett’s rising interest put new urgency on the party. Her national following, fundraising strength, and cable-news visibility all but guaranteed a three-way clash that many Democrats feared would spill into a May runoff.
An October poll underscored those concerns, showing Allred trailing Crockett, Talarico, and O’Rourke in a hypothetical primary matchup. With Crockett’s announcement looming and the filing deadline closing, Democrats privately expressed anxiety about replicating the costly intraparty fights of past cycles.
Allred’s decision raises the likelihood that the Senate nominee will emerge directly from the March primary, giving Democrats more time to regroup against whichever Republican prevails.
