Rep. Julie Johnson and former Rep.
Colin Allred will face each other again in the Democratic primary runoff, NBC News projects, after Allred dropped out of the Texas Senate race last year and ran for the House seat redefined by redistricting.
No candidate won a majority in Tuesday’s first round of primary elections.
The primary race for the deep blue 33rd District in the Dallas area became competitive when Allred dropped the Senate race out of respect for Representative Jasmine Crockett, instead opting to run for the House.
Johnson succeeded Allred in a different Dallas-based district in 2024, when he first ran for the Senate and lost the general election to GOP Senator Ted Cruz. Allred’s decision to run against his hand-picked successor created uneasy dynamics in the race.
“I think it’s a little strange, but at the end of the day, they made that choice,” Johnson told NBC News last month.
Competition between Allred and Johnson intensified over stock trading and immigration enforcement.
Both accused each other in different ways of supporting immigration customs and enforcement or companies associated with it. Texas Tribune reported last month Johnson bought stock in ICE-linked data company Palantir last year and later sold it, according to a Congressional Financial Disclosure Report.
Johnson stated that he has an independent money manager and sold the stocks last year, prior to any ICE surge in Minneapolis.
He told NBC News that he voted against ICE funding and Palantir’s interests.
Allred, who has faced criticism for voting in favour of Trump-backed immigration detention legislation, advocated for increased congressional oversight of ICE if Democrats win the majority in the midterms.
