Former Texas Democratic U.S. Representative Colin Allred announced this week that he will run for the U.S. Senate again in 2026, two years after falling 8.5 points short of unseating incumbent Ted Cruz. Allred is looking to become just the fifth failed Texas U.S. Senate major party candidate – and first Democrat – to win his party’s nomination for a second time since the turn of the 20th Century. Allred would join Houston attorney T.M. Kennerly in 1924 and 1928, Brownsville attorney Carlos Watson in 1936 and 1954, Wichita Falls college professor John Tower in 1960 and 1961, and Houston drilling executive George H.W. Bush in 1964 and 1970. Only Tower was successful at winning a seat in the chamber in their second go-around. [Tower was technically not the GOP nominee in 1961’s all-party jungle special primary, but was the only Republican on the ballot].

Of the 50 current U.S. governors, 17 were not born in the state they serve. Nearly half of Democratic governors (11 of 23) were born elsewhere but less than a quarter of Republicans (six of 27). Three of these 17 governors were born in New York City (Kansas Democrat Laura Kelly and Republicans Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia and Mark Gordon of Wyoming) plus Hawaii Democrat Josh Green was born in Kingston, New York. Two governors were born in Washington D.C. (Democrats Ned Lamont of Connecticut and Josh Stein of North Carolina) plus two in California (Illinois Democrat J.B. Pritzker in Palo Alto and Montana Republican Greg Gianforte in San Diego). The remaining Democrats are Delaware’s Matt Meyer (Michigan), Massachusetts’ Laura Healy (Maryland), Minnesota’s Tim Walz (Nebraska), New Jersey’s Phil Murphy (Massachusetts), and Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro (Missouri). The other three Republicans are Alaska’s Mike Dunleavy (Pennsylvania), Nevada’s Joe Lombardo (Japan), and Oklahoma’s Kevin Stitt (Florida).