In a district composed mostly of communities of color, Neave Criado hopes to topple Johnson with her stances on immigration, domestic violence and women’s issues.
State Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, D-Dallas, and state Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas are facing off in the March primary as Neave Criado challenges the incumbent Johnson.Hours before the December deadline for candidates to file their paperwork for this election cycle, an influential House Democrat rolled the dice.
Incumbent officeholders typically wait until their desired seat opens up rather than risking their own so they don’t have to compete against an incumbent with a big war chest.“Women are often told we need to wait our turn,” Neave Criado said in a recent interview with The Texas Tribune. “But you know, I'm not waiting my turn when I see that this district is not being represented like it should be.
Those were usually reserved for the more conservative Senate Democrats who regularly vote for measures pushed by the hard-right Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, such as Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen. Neave Criado has raised $127,670 since July, with nearly $30,000 of that last month. She’s spent some $75,000 and had $33,000 on hand as of Jan. 25.
Johnson is visible, popular, and well-funded. He frequently plays the role of loyal opposition in the heavily conservative Senate chamber, and had not, up until that point, drawn much criticism from his fellow Democrats for his center-left voting tendencies. She sees demographics as a sign that the Senate district she’s running for needs fresh representation.“These are urgent times for the residents of Senate District 16,” she told the Tribune. “You know, this is an incredibly diverse district with over half speaking a language other than English at home. And, this district deserves representation that understands them and speaks up for them no matter what.
During the third special session in October, Johnson — along with nine of the other 12 Senate Democrats — voted in favor of a bill that enhanced penalties for human smugglers.
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