Allred wins Texas House seat in comeback bid after 2 Senate campaigns

Former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) is headed back to Congress after winning his race in redistricted Texas , according to a projection from Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ).

Allred was leading Republican Patrick Gillespie 80 percent to 19 percent with 74 percent of the votes counted as of 8 p.m. EST, according to DDHQ .

Allred vacated his seat to run unsuccessfully against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the 2024 cycle and later launched a short-lived bid for Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) seat in this year’s midterms.

Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas) succeeded Allred in 2024 but lost out in an awkward Democratic primary runoff as GOP-friendly redistricting forced Democrats to play political musical chairs.

The new maps effectively merged Rep. Marc Veasey’s (D-Texas) 33rd District with Johnson’s 32nd District, creating a new 32nd District in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that favors President Trump by double digits, according to analysis by Dave Wasserman, the senior editor of Cook Political Report.

The reshaped 33rd Congressional District remained solidly Democratic, drawing both Johnson and Allred.

The primary results were a proxy win for Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) over state Rep. James Talarico (D), who beat her out in the Democratic primary for Senate. Crockett endorsed Allred, and Talarico backed Johnson.

House Democratic leadership, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) and Rep. Suzan DelBene (Wash.), the chair of the House Democrats’ campaign arm, had also backed Johnson.

With his Tuesday win, Allred is headed back to Congress two years after leaving to try for the Senate, marking one of several potential comeback bids this cycle.

DDHQ gave the former lawmaker a 99 percent chance of defeating Gillespie ahead of Election Day.