Democrat Julie Johnson avoids runoff in U.S. Dist. 32 race, Republican runoff in May

State Rep. Julie Johnson won the Democratic primary for Colin Allred's U.S. Dist. 32 House seat outright Tuesday night and could be the first LGBTQ congresswoman elected from a southern state if she can beat her Republican challenger in November.

Democratic voters were asked to choose between a crowded field of 10 candidates led by Johnson (D-Farmers Branch, Dist. 115) and Parkland Dallas trauma surgeon Dr. Brian Williams. The eight other candidates were Callie Butcher, Raja Chaudhry, Alex Cornwallis, Kevin Felder, Zachariah Manning, Jan McDowell, Justin Moore and Christopher Panayiotou.

Johnson won the race outright with 52% of the vote. Her closest challenger was Williams who took 19% of the vote.

"I have three terms in the Texas House. I have a lot of experience learning how to do this job both offensive and defensive, I've passed a lot of legislation, and voters really responded to the experience that I bring to this position," Johnson said.

Johnson is a retired attorney and a founding member of the Texas House LGBTQ caucus. She has been a state representative since 2019 and is currently serving her third term. She'll face the winner of a runoff between Republicans David Blewett and Darrell Day, two of the four Republicans who hoped to turn the blue district red in November.

On Wednesday morning Williams issued a statement thanking his supporters and congratulating Johnson on her win.

“While the outcome of this primary is not what we had hoped, I’m deeply proud of what this campaign stood for: courage, integrity, and service before self. Thank you to the thousands of grassroots supporters and volunteers who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in this fight to end gun violence, restore abortion rights and fix our broken healthcare system," Williams said in a statement Wednesday. "I offer my congratulations to Representative Johnson, her team and her family on their victory. I hope that her example will be a source of encouragement for the young people growing up in a state that still remains openly hostile to our LGBTQ community."

Williams was the surgeon on duty at Parkland when in July 2016 a gunman ambushed and killed five police officers in downtown Dallas. Williams wrote about the experience in a book released last year.

"I got into this race because I’ve had to pronounce too many victims dead on arrival due to gun violence and while this campaign is over, I look forward to continuing that work alongside the tireless friends and activists who were part of this team," Williams said.

Blewett led the field Tuesday but didn't receive more than 50% of the votes pitting him in a runoff in May with Day.

Joining Blewett and Day on the Republican primary ticket were Juan Feria and Gulrez "Gus" Khan.

Colin Allred's District 32 seat is available because, after three two-year terms, he's running for U.S. Senate and will be challenging U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in November. In 2018, longtime Dist. 32 Rep. Pete Sessions (R) lost his bid for re-election to Allred. The district hasn't been blue for long but Allred has held off two challengers since toppling Sessions.

A candidate must get 50% of the vote to avoid the runoff and proceed to the general election. If a candidate does not receive 50% of the vote, the top two candidates will have a runoff on Tuesday, May 28 with the winner moving on to the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5.