Dallas TV reporter Brett Shipp launches bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions

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Local television newsman Brett Shipp has left his position at Dallas-based WFAA to run for Congress, according to a news report from the station.

Shipp did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His Twitter account, which had been set to private as of midday Wednesday, featured a Congressional campaign logo.

Shipp is just barely making the Dec. 11 filing deadline for next year's elections. He will enter a crowded Democratic primary that will decide who will take on U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, a Dallas Republican. 

The late entry means he lags far behind some of his competitors in fundraising and will have an abridged window to make up that ground ahead of the March 6 primary.

The top Democratic fundraiser in the race has been former State Department official Ed Meier, who had about $440,000 in cash on hand at the end of September. Meanwhile, Sessions has nearly $1.2 million on hand for his re-election bid.

Sessions has not had a tough fight for re-election in well over a decade. But Hillary Clinton carried the district in 2016, giving Democrats optimism they can seriously challenge the seat. 

Shipp is well known throughout the district as a leading investigative reporter for WFAA, often the ratings winner in the Dallas-Fort Worth television market. His father Bert Shipp was also a longtime WFAA reporter. 

At the first round of votes at the U.S. House on Wednesday afternoon, Sessions declined to comment on Shipp's entry into the race.

Claire Allbright contributed to this report.