Former Rep. Colin Allred defeated Rep. Julie Johnson in a runoff that pitted two of the Democratic Party’s rising stars against each other in Texas’ newly redrawn 33rd District.

Allred’s victory Tuesday means he’s all but certain to win the general election in the deep-blue Dallas-area district.

Both candidates boasted substantial bios: Johnson became the first openly LGBTQ+ representative elected in a southern state last year, and Allred is an ex-NFL player, a three-term representative and a two-time U.S. Senate candidate.

When the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature passed a new congressional gerrymander last year, Allred decided to drop his Senate bid and take another shot at the House, setting up a race against a sitting member who had replaced him in Congress. The two have represented about one third of the newly drawn district.

The race turned intoa proxy fight of March’s Senate primary: Democratic nominee and state Rep. James Talarico endorsed Johnson, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett endorsed Allred and rallied with him last week.

Allred ran for Senate in 2024 instead of running for reelection for the House, eventually losing to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). He ran for Senate again in 2026 before dropping out and running for the 33rd District.

He attempted to make the race a referendum on corruption in politics, attacking Johnson’s stock trading and donations from corporate PACs. Allred also benefitted from a significant name ID advantage, winning the March primary by double digits and earning the endorsements of the two other primary candidates who failed to make the runoff.

Progressive sex therapist Maureen Galindo lost the Democratic runoff for Texas’ 35th District after being accused of antisemitism and facing condemnations from within her own party.

Johnny Garcia’s victory over Galindo on Tuesday has national and Texas Democrats breathing a sigh of relief.

They had moved en masse to disavow Galindo after she said in a recent social media post that she would write legislation to turn a local ICE detention center into a “prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking.” They had also accused Republicans of trying to prop her up, pointing to a shadowy super PAC with possible GOP ties, Lead Left, that pumped over $900,000 into the race to boost Galindo and attack Garcia.

The district is one of the five that Texas Republicans are targeting for pickups this fall, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has added Garcia, a county sheriff’s deputy, to its coveted “Red to Blue” program to support his candidacy.

Rep. Chip Roy lost the GOP runoff for Texas attorney general after a challenger to his right painted him as insufficiently loyal to MAGA.

State Sen. Mayes Middleton’s victory Tuesday proves that fealty to President Donald Trump continues to be the defining issue for Republican primary voters.

Middleton convinced voters he was the best Republican to carry the MAGA torch from outgoing Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is competing in his own Republican runoff Tuesday, against Sen. John Cornyn, for the Texas Senate seat.

Roy, a Freedom Caucus member, failed to overcome accusations that he betrayed the conservative movement by occasionally breaking with Trump, both over fiscal spending and in voting to certify Trump’s 2020 election loss. Trump made no endorsement in the race.

Middleton finished ahead of Roy in the March primary, knocking out two other opponents. A wealthy oil businessman from Galveston, Texas, Middleton loaned his campaign more than $16 million.

If he were to get elected as attorney general, Middleton would help shape the future of the Republican Party post-Trump, playing a key role leading the conservative legal movement.