Allred drops out of Senate Democratic primary in Texas

State of play: Allred, a former congressman and NFL player, said on X that he believes a "bruising" primary on his party's side would "prevent the Democratic Party from going into this critical election unified."

• Allred was running against state lawmaker James Talarico. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) is considering jumping into the race as well.
• Democrats are trying to unseat longtime Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is facing a primary challenge of his own.

The big picture: All attention will now turn to Crockett, who is expected to announce Monday whether she will enter the Senate primary.

• Talarico, 36, has raised over $6 million in his first month in the contest, a staggering sum for a state lawmaker without a big national profile.
• Allred won the Democratic nomination for Senate last year, but lost to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) by almost nine points.

Zoom out: Allred said he will run for the House in Texas' 33rd congressional district, under the state's redistricted congressional map that adds an additional five Republican-leaning seats.

• "The 33rd district was racially gerrymandered by Trump in an effort to further rig our democracy but it's also the community where I grew up attending public schools and watching my mom struggle to pay for our groceries," Allred said in the statement.
• The U.S. Supreme Court last week allowed Texas to use the newly-draw congressional maps for the upcoming midterm elections, a major win for national Republicans hoping to keep control of both chambers of Congress.