Colin Allred won Texas' newly redrawn 33rd Congressional District on November 3, 2026, defeating Patrick Gillespie and returning to Congress after his 2024 U.S. Senate campaign ended with a loss to Ted Cruz. Did Ted Cruz lose his seat? No — Allred's win instead sends him back to the U.S. House, where he will replace Marc Veasey.
The result came in the 2026 midterm election, after CBS News projected Allred as the winner. The district now sits entirely within Dallas County because of the 2025 congressional redistricting, and the seat had been held by Veasey before the map change forced a different contest for the same numbered district.
Dallas County district shift
Allred's victory matters because the 33rd Congressional District was redrawn into a Dallas County seat and was not the same district he last represented. From 2019 to 2025, he served in the neighboring 32nd Congressional District, then left the House for his 2024 U.S. Senate campaign.
That Senate run ended in a loss to Ted Cruz, but the new map gave Allred a route back to Congress. The district's large Latino population and Democratic lean shaped the race, even as the general election still came down to a direct contest with Gillespie.
Patrick Gillespie runoff path
Gillespie reached the general election after winning the May 26 runoff against John Sims with approximately 57% of the vote. He had also challenged Marc Veasey for the same seat in 2022 and 2024 and lost both times, making this his third try for the district.
Allred advanced from the Democratic side after defeating Julie Johnson in the May 26 primary runoff with approximately 54% of the vote. That result set up a matchup between two candidates who had already faced their parties' voters before the November race.
Allred back in Congress
The return to Congress restores Allred to the chamber he left after 2025 and places him in the seat Veasey did not seek to keep once his Fort Worth base was excluded from the redrawn district. Allred campaigned on lowering costs for working families, protecting voting rights and challenging the Trump administration, while Gillespie campaigned on stricter immigration enforcement, reducing federal spending, balancing the federal budget and strengthening national defense.
Allred's campaign website also says he supports abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and transferring its responsibilities to other federal agencies. The most immediate next step for voters in the district is not another election, but a change in representation: Allred will take the seat in the U.S. House that Veasey leaves behind.
