Allred is out just hours before Jasmine Crockett is expected to announce her own run for Senate. Allred said he is leaving to avoid a costly runoff.
DALLAS — Democrat Colin Allred has dropped out of the U.S. Senate race and said he will run for Congress again next year in the newly drawn 33rd district, just hours before the deadline for candidates to file.
“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 against the danger posed to our communities and our Constitution by Donald Trump and one of his Republican bootlickers Paxton, Cornyn, or Hunt. That’s why I’ve made the difficult decision to end my campaign for the U.S. Senate,” Allred said in a statement to WFAA.
“But I’m nowhere near done serving my community and our state,” he continued. “Today, I’m announcing my campaign for Congress to represent the newly drawn Congressional District 33.”
Allred leaves the Democratic race for U.S. Senate just hours before Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is expected to join it. Crockett has planned a “special announcement” about her political future at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
The deadline for candidates to file to run for statewide and federal offices in Texas next year is today at 6:00 p.m.
Though Allred was the first high-profile Democrat to launch a campaign for U.S. Senate this year, he had not yet officially filed the paperwork with the Texas Secretary of State.
Allred dropping out of the Democratic race for U.S. Senate now avoids a costly runoff for the party. State Rep. James Tallarico, D-Austin, remains in the Senate race and will likely face Crockett alone.
Allred will now appear on the ballot against Congresswoman Julie Johnson in the Democratic Primary for Texas Congressional District 33.
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, currently represents Texas 33. It used to stretch from Tarrant into Dallas County. But Republicans redrew the district and cut out Tarrant County altogether. Now, the new 33rd congressional district is solely in Dallas County and remains majority Democratic.
U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Dallas, had already announced that she will run for the newly redrawn 33rd district after the GOP made her seat in the 32nd district majority Republican.
But Johnson did not expect to face Allred in the primary.
The LGBT Equality PAC criticized Allred for putting her incumbency in jeopardy.
“At a time when Trump and the GOP target the LGBTQ community, the last thing a Democrat should do is try to unseat the first openly LGBTQ Member of Congress from Texas. Unconscionable,” said the Equality PAC in a post on X Sunday night.
But Allred said the new 33rd congressional district is a good fit since he lives there, used to represent parts of it when he served in Congress, and said he secured more than $135-million in federal resources for it during his three terms in Congress.
“I’m humbly asking to return to Congress — to keep fighting so that kids who are growing up all across the 33rd district can get the same chances as I did,” Allred’s statement said.
The last-minute musical chairs is happening after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Republicans’ newly redrawn congressional maps that eliminate five Democratic districts and make it easier for President Trump to maintain control of Congress next year.
Republicans still face a bruising primary for their own U.S. Senate nomination. Incumbent John Cornyn is being challenged by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Congressman Wesley Hunt, R-Houston. With three well-funded names in the GOP race, it is likely to go to a runoff next spring.