Former Rep. Colin Allred is ending his U.S. Senate campaign in Texas and instead will attempt a House comeback bid, potentially paving the way for Rep. Jasmine Crockett to become the early favorite for Democrats’ nomination in a state they have long hoped to make more competitive.

Crockett will decide Monday, the final day of qualifying in Texas, whether to run for the Senate seat now held by Republican John Cornyn.

Allred said in a statement Monday that he will run instead in a newly-drawn district in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which he previously represented in Congress before he won the Democrats’ Senate nomination in 2024 and lost the general election to Sen. Ted Cruz.

The former congressman said he wanted to avoid “a bruising Senate primary and runoff” that could threaten Democrats’ chances in a state Republicans have dominated for decades. Allred did not name Crockett or state Rep. James Talarico, who has launched his Senate bid already. But Allred’s decision suggests Crockett will indeed enter the contest.

Republicans also expect a hotly contested primary among incumbent John Cornyn, state Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.

An internal party battle, Allred said, “would prevent the Democratic Party from going into this critical election unified against the danger posed to our communities and our Constitution by Donald Trump and one of his Republican bootlickers.”

Allred’s new district is part of the new congressional map that Texas’ GOP-run Legislature approved earlier this year as part of President Donald Trump’s push to redraw House boundaries to Republicans’ advantage. It includes some areas that Allred represented in Congress from 2019-2025. Most of the district is currently being represented by Rep. Marc Veasey, but he has planned to run in a new, neighboring district.

A former professional football player and civil rights attorney, Allred was among Democrats star recruits for the 2018 midterms, when the party gained a net of 40 House seats, including multiple suburban and exurban districts in Texas, to win a House majority that redefined Trump’s first presidency. But those successes have not translated to statewide victories in Texas, with Allred losing to Cruz last November by 8.5 percentage points.

Bill Barrow, The Associated Press