Maria Crane
Audio By Carbonatix
On the final day to file as a candidate for the March primaries, former Congressman Colin Allred announced he wants to return to the U.S. House, dropping his bid for the U.S. Senate.
On Monday morning, Allred posted a message to his social media accounts, announcing the move that he wrote was “the difficult to decision to end my campaign for Senate and run to represent the newly drawn CD-33.”
The move comes after a CNN report over the weekend that U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett had asked Allred to drop out of the Senate race in order to perhaps clear the way for her to throw her hat in the ring for the Democratic nomination. Crockett is set to make an announcement about her campaign plans on Monday afternoon.
“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 Constitution by Donald Trump and one of his Republican bootlickers Paxton, Cornyn or Hunt,” Allred wrote, referring to the current slate of Republican Senate nominees from Texas, headlined by incumbent John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.
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Just a few weeks ago, Allred began attacking the other Democratic Senate nominee, state Rep. James Talarico, for his stance against billionaires while having billionaire backers, but that was before the Supreme Court upheld the redrawn Texas congressional maps last week and the increased heat behind rumors that Crockett would choose to run for Senate rather than for re-election in District 30.
Democrat Mark Veasey currently represents District 33, which includes sections of Dallas and Tarrant Counties. According to the Fort Worth Report, he will also announce his plans on Monday afternoon. Should Crockett announce a Senate bid, her District 30 seat would be available for him to pursue.
This filing season has been unlike just about any other in recent history, thanks to the controversial redistricting passed during the 89th Texas Legislature. Encouraged by President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott, the legislature may have created up to five additional sports for Republicans in Congress, according to experts.
Many local lawmakers, including Allred’s successor in District 32, Julie Johnson, have been left in an awkward limbo as the decision involving the final maps has been made. Johnson’s district is one of the five districts most likely to be swayed from blue to red in the 2026 elections. Johnson has also announced that she will run for the District 33 Democratic nomination that Allred now seeks.
The filing deadline for candidates running for statewide and federal offices in Texas is today at 6:00 p.m.
