Rep. Julie Johnson, center, is surrounded by other Democratic members of Congress and Texas House Democrats as she speaks during a Democratic Party press conference in Warrenville, Ill. last August. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
Taffet@DallasVoice.com
U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson says she’s still awed when she enters the U.S. Capitol Building. She calls it an “awesome, incredible experience” that is even more humbling when she realizes she is one of just 396 women ever elected to Congress, and she is the first LGBTQ+ person ever elected from, not just Texas, but from all of the South.
When she puts the history together with the ability to help people in her district, serving in Congress makes Johnson proud — no matter how much the opposition would like to get rid of her.
And getting rid of Julie Johnson is something Texas Republicans have made a priority. When they were ordered by President Trump to redistrict halfway through the 10-year census cycle, Johnson’s district was one they targeted. And while the new gerrymandered districts are still being challenged in the courts, The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the 2026 midterm elections to move forward based on the maps in question.
In order to make it difficult, if not impossible, for Johnson to be reelected, the Texas GOP took what had been a fairly safe Democratic seat contained entirely within Dallas County and packed it with Republicans by stretching the district eastward to include parts of East Texas as far as 100 miles away from Dallas County.
“Of course it’s frustrating when you see Republican members of Congress bending the knee to an unhinged president,” Johnson said of the redistricting and the GOP’s control of Congress. While she isn’t worried about herself, she is very concerned about her constituents losing benefits.
“It’s frustrating to see healthcare being stripped away from so many people,” Johnson noted, saying that Republicans are “trampling SNAP, reducing CHIP.”
Because she wanted to continue fighting to protect healthcare, Johnson decided to run for reelection in the newly-drawn 33rd Congressional District that includes Oak Lawn (stripping voters from Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s district) and Oak Cliff (taking voters from Rep. Marc Veasey’s district).
As a result of the redistricting, Veasey decided not to seek reelection. And Crockett is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Their decisions left that newly drawn seat open.
After Johnson announced her intentions and after Crockett jumped into the Senate race, former Rep. Colin Allred jumped out of the Senate race and into the congressional contest against Johnson.
As a former congressman, Allred expected his share of endorsements. Instead, the lion’s share — including endorsements by the entire Democratic leadership in the U.S. House and Senate — and a majority of Democrats in the Texas Legislature have endorsed Johnson.
And Democratic clubs around the area who may have considered an Allred endorsement are standing behind Johnson if for no other reason than because Johnson is showing up while Allred has snubbed appearances at these groups.
Johnson said she’s against mid-decade redistricting because constituents “establish relationships with their members of Congress.” But if endorsements and turnout at her campaign events are any indication, she is already connecting with voters in her new district.
And if there has been any good to come out of redistricting for Johnson, she said, it’s that she has a chance to represent what she calls “the heart of the LGBT community.”
“I’m hoping our community will come out and fight for our seat together,” she said, adding that there are several things people can do to support her campaign.
“First, we want to make sure everyone is registered to vote,” Johnson stressed. The deadline to vote in the primary is next Monday, Feb. 2. Even those who are sure they are already registered should take the time to double check at Texas.gov/Living-in-Texas/Texas-Voter-Registration.
Anyone interested in working on Johnson’s campaign should go to her website, JulieJohnson.com, which offers options to support Johnson financially and “make sure we turn out the vote,” she said.
Even though there are four candidates in the race for District 33 — Zeeshan Hafeez and Carlos Quintanilla in addition to Johnson and Allred — Johnson said she is hoping to avoid a run-off. In her primary two years ago when she first ran for Congress, she faced 10 other candidates but received more than 50 percent of the vote, avoiding an expensive second round of voting.
The importance of the midterms
Johnson is clear on the importance of this election.
“Everything that we value is on the line,” she said. “Assaults on our identity have been relentless,” and she said, marriage equality is one of those rights Republicans are targeting.
“Elect people who will vigorously defend our rights,” she said. “Republicans have turned their backs on anything that is unique or different. They’ve turned their back on democracy.”
Johnson said that while Republicans express support for the LGBTQ+ community in private, “they lack the moral character to stand up and do something.”
But it’s not just on LGBTQ+ issues that Republicans concern Johnson. What about a war with Denmark and allies from Europe over Greenland? What about Venezuela?
“We should exercise our war powers,” she said. “Only Congress has the right to declare war against a foreign power. That’s an example of how elections matter.”
That goes for trade wars as well: “Tariffs are making everything more expensive,” Johnson said. “Only Congress has the right to issue tariffs — not the president.”
She said Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is “bending at the knee” to Trump, “and I’m not sure why,” considering the president’s other foreign policy failures, like abdicating the U.S.’s position in NATO, disregarding longstanding allies and dismantling key USAID programs.
The president is “throwing pity party fits,” Johnson said. “That’s no way to govern. It’s dangerous.”
But Democratic leadership is standing up, she continued, citing the discharge petition Democrats passed forcing a bill out of committee and onto the floor for a vote that gave the Affordable Care Act a three-year extension.
Commenting on what’s going on with ICE in Minneapolis, Johnson said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “needs to be impeached,” and Congress should put an end to what ICE is doing by voting to defund the agency. She called what ICE is doing a “rogue effort to terrorize American citizens.”
But while Johnson would vote to defund ICE and its operations in Minnesota and other Democratic-run cities, she said ICE was vital to do effective border enforcement and to carry out immigration laws.
“Immigration laws should be enforced,” she said. Her complaint is with how it’s being done now. “You can’t arrest people without probable cause. And you can’t execute people.”
Of Trump, Johnson said, “I think he’s unwell. He’s emotionally and intellectually unhinged.”
So why does she want to be elected to return to Congress?
“I think I just got started, and there’s a lot I want to achieve. There’s a lot of work to be done,” Johnson said, pointing to her office’s constituent services.
Circling back, she referred to her long list of endorsements. “It makes me proud so many people have chosen to endorse me. I’m particularly proud of endorsements from people who have served with both of us,” she said referring to Allred. “We’re very confident. Our polling shows we have a clear path to victory.
“I think with all the attacks on the LGBT community, there’s no substitute for someone on the inside fighting,” Johnson concluded. “My opponent turned his back and voted for trans healthcare bans. I’ve been with our community for the last 30 years and will never walk away.”