Texas Democrats locked in their candidate for the newly redrawn 32nd Congressional District, which includes a portion of Dallas. The Republican primary remained too close to call.
In the Democratic primary, Dan Barrios, a business development professional, defeated Anthony Bridges, a U.S. Army veteran, in a two-man race. In the Republican primary, Jace Yarbrough was just shy of the more than 50 percent he needs to win outright. If he falls short, he is likely to face a runoff against Ryan Binkley. The Republican primary had a crowded field of nine candidates, but whoever wins the runoff election in May will still have an advantage after the redistricting push last year. Mr. Yarbrough was the only candidate in the field to win the endorsement of President Trump.
The 32nd Congressional District of Texas, which stretches into some of the Dallas suburbs, was a solidly Democratic district until it was redrawn last year in an attempt to gain more seats for Republicans in the House. The 32nd District had included a larger portion of Dallas County, which traditionally leaned left in elections. But the redrawing of the map into an elongated tadpole shape shifted the district far into more rural East Texas.
The redistricting effort prompted Representative Julie Johnson, the incumbent Democrat, to run in the neighboring the 33rd Congressional District against Colin Allred, a Democrat who had previously represented the 32nd Congressional District.
Before this redistricting effort, the 32nd District was a “dark blue district where there was no doubt whatsoever that a Democrat would win,” said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston.
The restricting effort, Mr. Jones said, will now more likely guarantee that a Republican will win the House seat.
“It went from a reliable Democratic seat to a reliable Republican seat,” Mr. Jones said.
For Democrats, the primary came down to a two-man race between Mr. Bridges, a U.S. Army veteran, and Mr. Barrios, a business development professional and a City Council member in Richardson, a Dallas suburb.
The Republican primary featured a much more crowded field.
Darrell Day, a business owner who has pitched himself as a “MAGA Trump Republican,” also ran for the 32nd Congressional District seat in 2024. He lost to Ms. Johnson by more than 20 percentage points.
Mr. Binkley, a businessman who also serves as the senior pastor of a church in Richardson, also ran for president in 2024 in the Republican primary.
Mr. Yarbrough, an Air Force veteran and lawyer, whom Mr. Trump said
would “fight tirelessly to keep our border secure, stop migrant crime, ensure law and order, safeguard our elections, and protect our always under siege Second Amendment.”
Mr. Yarbrough also secured the endorsement of Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, as well as several endorsements from the House, including Speaker Mike Johnson and Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the majority leader.
Jesus Jiménez is a Times reporter covering Southern California.
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