Texas' 33rd congressional district race between Colin Allred, Julie Johnson heats up

New race, familiar faces

DALLAS - It’s not often a former member of Congress runs against the person who succeeded him. But due to redistricting and a late addition to the Senate race, this is where we are. 

The Democratic primary race for the newly drawn 33rd congressional district pits a current member of Congress against a former member of Congress.

What we know:

Julie Johnson currently represents the 32nd district, a seat Colin Allred gave up when he ran for US Senate in 2024. Now both are head-to-head for the new seat. 

FOX 4’s Steven Dial spoke to both candidates over Zoom to get a better picture of the race.

"The thing that's interesting about both of us is we both have records to be measured by, and I think that record is certainly up for discussion," Johnson said over Zoom. 

Allred joins the race

Allred joined the race on the filing deadline, exiting the Senate race this cycle when congresswoman Jasmine Crockett jumped in. 

"What I’ve always tried to do is serve in a way that has integrity and shows that I’m going to put the folks that I am serving first," Allred said via Zoom. "That's why I never took a dime of corporate PAC money."

"During my time in Congress, I never traded a single stock," Allred continued. "Julie Johnson has decided to make some very different decisions, taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in corporate PAC money and being very active as a stock trader."

Johnson touts voting record

Johnson was asked what the contrast to voters will be between two very familiar names.

"Well, you know, we have some very different records on issues that are significantly important. You know, he voted for two immigration bills that would have denied due process to detainees, people who've been wrongfully detained," Johnson said. "Obviously, I voted against those bills." 

"And we have different visions on healthcare in this country. You know I think we need to have as much expansive healthcare for as many people as we can and he has voted in more restrictive way."

Candidates speak on ICE

Immigration enforcement has consumed recent headlines. Dial asked both candidates about ICE enforcement. 

"Well, you know, I think ICE is exceeding their authority in so many situations, and it's unfortunate that the department of homeland security has not reigned that in and really kind of gotten a hold of some of these folks that clearly are abusing their power and their threat," Johnson said.

"Under this President, ICE is out of control, and this is an agency that, to me, has been given no oversight, no accountability," Allred said. "This Republican Congress has pumped huge amounts of money into ICE, making it one of the world's largest police forces."

What's next

While this seat has brand-new boundaries, experts say it will likely still be held by a Democrat.