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LiberalMind endorses Patrick Gillespie — as unproven, and on watch
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and voting is already underway in Texas. This is the whole race — the records, the claims against each candidate, and what the sources actually show. Read the research, and decide which flaw you can live with.
The setup
Texas's 33rd District is an OPEN SEAT. Marc Veasey (D, since 2012) declined re-election on Dec. 8, 2025, to run for Tarrant County Judge. The NEW TX-33 sits wholly within Dallas County — the old one reached Fort Worth. The printed-ballot nominees are Colin Allred (D) and Patrick Gillespie (R), who won the Republican runoff after advancing with 35.5%. Michelle Craig is a DECLARED WRITE-IN only — never a printed-ballot name. On the new lines, the district voted Harris +32.8 (FTP reaggregation), and the race is rated Safe/Solid D by Cook, Inside Elections, and Sabato — arithmetic stated plainly in our call below.
Colin Allred (Democratic)
The record: Allred is a former U.S. Representative for the old TX-32 (2019–2025), the 2024 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate (he lost to Cruz), a former NFL linebacker, and a civil rights attorney. He first ran for Senate again in 2026, then switched to this House race. In this district's Democratic primary he beat sitting Rep. Julie Johnson in the May 26 runoff, after leading the March plurality 45.5–34.0.
Pros: Six years of House service in a neighboring Dallas district, a statewide Senate nomination, and a primary runoff won against a sitting incumbent — a proven vote-getter with a real congressional record voters can inspect.
Cons: On the file consulted, there is no documented break toward our values that survives the Manchin test. He is a proven party-line vote, and that record — not biography, not potential — is what a voter is buying.
The flaw, plainly: Allred is priced as an enabler: a reliable party-line vote whose service documents no break toward our values. He is not classified extremist in this article. His flaw is followership proven in service — the opposite of unproven.
Patrick Gillespie (Republican)
The record: The research file locates no substantive record for Gillespie beyond his campaign platform — border enforcement, photo ID for voting, and energy — and no FEC report on file as of Oct. 18, 2026. That is stated here with explicit insufficient-record honesty: beyond the platform, no record was located in the sources consulted.
Pros: The conservative direction, and a platform — border enforcement, photo ID for voting, energy — that states plainly what he would vote for, as campaign material.
Cons: There is almost nothing to check. No elected record, no substantive biography located, and no FEC report on file as of Oct. 18, 2026 — a campaign-capacity fact printed as the file records it.
The flaw, plainly: Gillespie is unproven — a watch-closely posture under our rules, never a demerit — and in his case the watch is at its widest, because the file is nearly empty. Voters are buying a direction and a three-plank platform; both get audited against a first term, if he gets one.
OUR CALL
LiberalMind endorses Patrick Gillespie — as unproven, and on watch.
This endorsement is direction against steep arithmetic, stated honestly: the new lines voted Harris +32.8 and every major rater in the file calls the seat Safe or Solid Democratic. Within the choice on the ballot, Allred is the proven quantity, and what he has proven is a party-line vote with no documented break toward our values. Gillespie's nearly empty file is priced openly above — including the missing FEC report — and it is the reason for the watch, not a reason to default to the proven party-line record across the aisle.
This race is one of hundreds in LiberalMind's Election 2026 coverage. For the complete breakdown — every race, claim by claim — go to liberalmindhq.com.
Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Sources
- The Green Papers — Texas 2026 General Election (thegreenpapers.com/G26/TX) — ballot roster, Veasey's Dec. 8, 2025 decision not to seek re-election, Gillespie's runoff advancement at 35.5%, and Michelle Craig listed as a declared write-in only
- The Ballot Brief — Texas Sample Ballot 2026 (theballotbrief.com/state/texas) — Allred's congressional record via congressional records (old TX-32, 2019–2025; 2024 Senate nominee; former NFL linebacker; civil rights attorney) and Gillespie's campaign platform (border enforcement, photo ID for voting, energy)
- Wikipedia — "2026 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas" — compilation cross-check on the Texas House roster and the 2025 map
- Ballotpedia News — Allred's March plurality (45.5–34.0) and May 26 runoff win over Johnson, and the Safe/Solid Democratic ratings from Cook, Inside Elections, and Sabato
- Texas Observer, via the research file — the new TX-33 is contained wholly within Dallas County, and Allred's switch from a second Senate run to this House race
- FTP reaggregation, via the research file — Harris +32.8 on the new lines, and no Gillespie FEC report on file as of Oct. 18, 2026
Winner: Colin Allred (Democratic) — called by the Associated Press. This result was appended on November 4, 2026 (results wave 1); the original article above is unchanged, exactly as published before Election Day.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.