Last year’s redistricting has drawn a flurry of candidates campaigning for Texas’ 32nd Congressional District, a seat that will almost certainly go to a Republican under new boundaries that stretch from Dallas into red-leaning East Texas.

Of the nine Republicans vying for Rep. Julie Johnson’s seat in the crowded March primary, notable names include Ryan Binkley, a businessman and pastor who self-funded a long-shot presidential bid in 2024; Jace Yarbrough, an attorney, conservative activist and former state Senate candidate; Darrell Day, the district’s Republican nominee last cycle; and Paul Bondar, who ran for Oklahoma’s 4th District in 2024.

Johnson, a freshman Democrat from Farmers Branch, was drawn out of her seat last summer by Republicans in the Texas Legislature, who crafted a new congressional map designed to net up to five seats for the GOP in the 2026 midterms. With her once solidly blue district now virtually out of reach for Democrats, Johnson is running for a nearby seat that contains about a third of her current constituents.

The redrawn 32nd District stretches from the Dallas suburbs into rural East Texas, taking in six new, heavily white Republican counties. With its new electorate — less than half the current 32nd District’s population will remain in the new boundaries — the seat will shift from one Kamala Harris carried in 2024 by about 24 percentage points, to one Donald Trump would have secured by an 18-point margin.

“Of the five districts that were targeted by Republicans and redistricting, [District] 32 is far and away the most solidly Republican,” said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University. “Giving up 32 would require [Republicans] to nominate a deeply flawed candidate, and for a blue wave that’s larger than anything we’ve seen in recent decades to sweep across the country.”

The new maps grant Texas Republicans renewed hope at securing the seat and holding it for potentially years in the future. The initial buzz spurred talk of big names entering the race, like California GOP Rep. Darrell Issa, state Rep. Katrina Pierson, R-Rockwall, and state Sen. Angela Pa, R-McKinney.

None of those lawmakers ended up joining the race, nor did any elected officials from the county level — a frequent launchpad for congressional hopefuls. Jones noted that the new District 32 doesn’t contain a large share of any major county, such as Dallas or Collin, which he said may have discouraged local officials from running.

What’s left is a pool of lesser-known candidates who describe themselves as holding staunch right-wing views that align with the Trump administration on topics including abortion, immigration, gun ownership, energy production and government spend.

The race is likely to head to a runoff between the top two finishers because of the sheer volume of candidates. Jones said that among the nine contenders, “none of them stands head and shoulders above the others.”

Binkley, who runs a consulting firm that advises businesses on mergers and acquisitions, was the first to publicly announce his campaign. He reported a fundraising haul of just over $1 million through the end of September, $754,000 of which were his own funds.

Binkley’s short-lived presidential bid two years ago gained little traction: He dropped out and endorsed Trump after the fourth state primary contest. But he also showed a proclivity for self-funding — loaning his White House campaign more than $11 million — that could give him a leg up in a wide-open congressional primary.

In his run for the 32nd District, Binkley has received endorsements from U.S. Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Waxahachie, and local religious leaders including Kelly Shackelford, the influential president and chief executive of First Liberty Institute, a Plano-based conservative Christian law firm. Binkley, for his part, is the founding pastor at Create Church, a Christian church in Richardson, along with his wife.

In his August campaign announcement, Binkley pledged to carry out Trump’s America First agenda and work with the president on policies promoting border security, domestic energy and economic growth.

Among Binkley’s rivals is Yarbrough, who mounted a bid for a state Senate seat in North Texas in 2024. He lost the primary runoff to Brent Hagenbuch, who had the support of the Senate’s powerful leader, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Yarbrough was backed in that race by Kyle Rittenhouse, the conservative activist acquitted of killing two Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020, and other major right-wing groups and politicians. He has scooped up several high-profile endorsements for his congressional run, including. Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Reps. Lance Gooden of Terrell and Keith Self of McKinney, who collectively represent nearly 200,000 constituents who will be moved into the new 32nd District.

A constitutional lawyer, Yarbrough has touted his experience working on a lawsuit preventing San Antonio from using public funds for out-of-state abortions and representing first responders in San Francisco who were fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. When he served as an Air Force Reserve officer in 2023, he sued the Air Force and Space Force for reprimanding him for comments he made at a private event disapproving of a growing “cancel culture” in the military.

Yarbrough’s priorities align with the state’s rightward lean on topics such as immigration, abortion, energy production and limiting government spending.

Bondar, who calls Texas his home, ran an unsuccessful campaign in 2024 to represent Oklahoma in Congress. He spent millions of his own money on advertisements running against Rep. Tom Cole, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee. Cole fended off the primary challenge, winning 65% of the vote to Bondar’s 26%.

A 2024 report from the Oklahoman accused Bondar of having loose ties to a couple connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Bondar vehemently denied.

Day, a small business owner, ran for the District 32 seat in the past two election cycles and won the Republican nomination in 2024. He previously served on the Arlington City Council and has also held roles as a precinct chair and election judge. His campaign website says he stands on the “unshakable foundation of the Bible and the U.S. Constitution” to deliver solutions for Texans.

He’s been endorsed by dozens of Dallas County political leaders and right-wing organizations such as Moms for Liberty and Latinos United for Conservative Action.

Other candidates in the District 32 race include Marine veteran Aimee Carrasco, Gordon Heslop, Air Force veteran Monty Montanez, James Ussery, who works in the oil and gas industry, and Dallas-area businessman Abteen Vaziri, a figure in the EB-5 immigrant investor industry.

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