Veasey expected to hold onto U.S. House seat representing parts of Fort Worth, Arlington

U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, likely faces an easy path to a seventh term because of the way his congressional district was redrawn, according to election experts.

Veasey faces Patrick Gillespie, a 66-year-old Republican who has worked in industrial manufacturing and UPS supply chain solutions, according to his campaign website.

Both are vying to represent Texas’ 33rd Congressional District. The talon-shaped district covers Tarrant and Dallas counties, including parts of Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Irving and Dallas.

Gillespie ran against Veasey in 2022, losing the election with 25.6% of the votes to Veasey’s 72%. In March, Gillespie secured the Republican nomination for the seat with 61.6% of the vote. 

To secure the Democratic nomination in the March primary, Veasey won 68.3% of the vote.

District 33’s boundaries were last amended in 2021, in a congressional map that has drawn criticism for giving political security to incumbent lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Veasey’s race, along with Dallas-Fort Worth’s other congressional districts, generally aren’t competitive, said James Riddlesperger, a political science professor at Texas Christian University.

Riddlesperger said the district, which was intentionally drawn to sprawl across many of the metroplex’s most urban and racially diverse neighborhoods, reflects the broader gerrymandering practices seen across Texas. 

As Republican lawmakers map the state’s congressional districts, they loop as many Democrat-leaning voters into the same boundaries as possible, he said. In turn, surrounding districts are also less competitive and safely Republican.

The practice is controversial, but it has its defenders, Riddlesperger said. Because Veasey is representing urban neighborhoods, which tend to attract voters who support Democrats, he’s likely to better represent the majority of his constituents’ political values. 

If lawmakers drew Veasey’s district to be more politically diverse, the Democrat would be charged with representing more Republicans with opposing concerns and beliefs.

“In terms of representing the interests of your local constituency, a diverse district that’s politically 50-50 and includes people from urban areas, suburban areas and rural areas probably satisfies relatively few people,” Riddlesperger said.

Policy differences

Veasey has campaigned on issues like expanding access to affordable health care, providing low-income communities with career opportunities, ensuring abortion access and funding infrastructure improvements.

In a September interview, Gillespie told the Report he is campaigning to halt a century-long progression of Communist principles he has seen in Congress. The country’s current leadership has been too weak to deal with the “humanitarian crisis throughout Central America and Mexico,” Gillespie said.

Regarding Fort Worth jobs, Veasey has pushed for raising the federal minimum wage and supports workers’ unions.

In an email response to the Report, Veasey said he’s proud of how he’s helped local small businesses access funding and resources to recover from the challenges brought on by the COVID-19  pandemic through federal programs.

Gillespie thinks raising the minimum wage would cause more headaches for businesses and employees than help them, he said in a phone call with the Report. He would rather emphasize retraining young adults to more diverse jobs. 

Gillespie said more young workers should enter trade schools instead of going to college for degrees they might not be able to use.

Regarding local infrastructure, Veasey said, his efforts to get federal funds to Fort Worth projects are one of his biggest accomplishments, and he’s campaigned on expanding public transportation infrastructure, which his campaign says is “essential for the metroplex to stay competitive in today’s economy.”

He has consistently supported Fort Worth’s $1.16 billion Panther Island project — a decades-long effort to reroute part of the Trinity River near downtown to mitigate flooding for 2,400 acres and, in the process, create a natural-appearing island that will spur economic development in the area. 

Veasey has previously told the Report that he requested and secured $403 million for the project through the Biden administration’s 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Gillespie supports the Panther Island project but said he thinks more private funding entities should be involved. 

The Republican challenger doesn’t see a need to expand public transportation, he said, because he views North Texas as too sprawling for any mass transit to be effective. Instead, Gillespie said, he would put infrastructure funding toward repairing roads and improving car infrastructure.

A former substitute school teacher, Veasey said he supports public education and criticizes attempts to cut school funding.

Gillespie said he thinks public school education has been too “dumbed down” for students and can’t effectively teach them. He also criticized politicians who have planted what he views to be “woke policy” agendas in classrooms.

Concerning immigration, Veasey calls himself a “strong advocate” of immigrant communities, and he has previously fought to keep the Texas DREAM Act, which protects the opportunity for immigrant children to attend college, and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a program that protects undocumented people who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation. 

He has previously called border security a top priority, criticizing Republicans for overemphasizing the effectiveness of a border wall. He said he wants to focus on helping U.S. Customs and Border Protection upgrade its scanning and detecting equipment, as well as reforming the pathway for immigrants to become citizens. 

Gillespie also sees border security as a top issue, saying he wants to crack down on vetting immigrants at the border and detaining illegal border crossers.

He has previously said it’s Mexico’s responsibility, not the United States’, to handle the border crisis humanely. The federal government should be stricter with people who have already immigrated illegally, Gillespie said. 

He views the current flux of migrants along the Mexican-American border as an “invasion.” Gillespie believes South American countries are sending a large number of criminals to the United States, amid the other migrants, he said. 

Campaign strategies

Veasey’s reelection strategy reflects what Riddlesberger calls a “low-key” campaign typically seen from incumbent politicians that emphasizes their accomplishments, rather than attacking opponents. 

“You don’t want to raise the profile of your opponent; you don’t want to give them attention,” Riddlesperger said. 

On top of name recognition, Veasey has stockpiled funds for reelection campaigns. He had $860,350 in cash on hand, according to a June 30 campaign finance report.

Gillespie said he’s self-funded about $1,000 for his campaign and does not have a campaign finance report filed with the Federal Ethics Commission as of Oct. 15, 2024. He criticized Veasey for taking campaign donations from “military-industrial complex” entities like the Aerospace Workers Union and Lockheed Martin, a major employer in Fort Worth. 

Veasey’s war chest serves more as a signal to opponents that he intends to continue running for reelection, the political scientist said.

“Veasey is now a fairly entrenched incumbent,” Riddlesperger said. “He’s been in office for a good long while now, and incumbents are really, really difficult to displace under any circumstances.”

Veasey has represented Fort Worth alongside U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, who has held her seat representing most of west Fort Worth since 1997. Granger, now 81, is not running for reelection, and her final term will end in January.

That means Veasey would be Fort Worth’s most senior House member. He said he views the new status as an opportunity to build on his achievements and face Tarrant County’s current challenges with a fresh perspective.

Drew Shaw is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org or @shawlings601. 

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.