Allred defeats Johnson in heated Texas 33 Democratic runoff race

Former congressman Colin Allred is the Democratic nominee who will represent Texas’s 33rd Congressional District in Dallas County after a primary runoff election against U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson on Tuesday, CBS News projects.

The two were bound for a runoff after the results of the March 3 primary, in which neither candidate secured more than 50% of the vote to win the seat. Allred finished first during the March 3 primary with nearly 44%, and Johnson came in second with more than 33%.

Allred surpassed Johnson in a contentious battle where both candidates blasted each other’s records.

Allred, a former Democratic congressman from Dallas who later decided to run for the 33rd district, criticized Johnson for her past stock trades. He claimed she benefited and profited from some of the companies that “I think are contributing to some of the violations of civil rights around us every day.”

Despite receiving criticism himself over his past voting records in reference to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, during his campaign, Allred said the current administration had turned ICE into a “political tool to attack its enemies.”

Allred campaigned on his roots in North Texas and his record securing federal funding, presenting himself as an experienced problem-solver while also criticizing corporate influence in politics. 

He will now face the Republican nominee in the November election.