Elections

As a result of the 2003 Texas redistricting, Frost lost his reelection effort in 2004 to Pete Sessions. In 2004, Veasey challenged Democratic State Representative Glenn Lewis for Texas's 95th House district.^[5] He defeated Lewis 54%-46% in the primary^[7] and won the general election unopposed. He was reelected in 2006 (91%), 2008 (96%), and 2010 (100%).^[2][8]

Tenure

Veasey represented Texas House District 95 from 2005 to 2013.^[9] He was the chair pro tempore of the House Democratic Caucus.^[10] He sponsored measures to create career and technology training in high schools, and authored HB 62, which honored Tim Cole, a Texas Tech University student wrongly convicted of raping a fellow student in 1985. Veasey also authored a bill requiring a study to lead to greater enforcement of the James Byrd Jr. hate crime bill.^[11]

2012

Veasey declared his candidacy for Texas's 33rd congressional district, a new congressional district for the United States House of Representatives that was created by reapportionment following the 2010 United States census. The district is based in Tarrant and Dallas counties.^[13] It is heavily Democratic: the Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI) was D+14. It is also highly diverse: 66% Hispanic and 17% African American.^[14]

Eleven candidates filed to run in the Democratic primary. Veasey finished first, with 37% of the vote, less than the 50% needed to win the primary outright. State Representative Domingo García ranked second with 25% of the vote, qualifying for the runoff election. Veasey won Tarrant with 49% of the vote, while Garcia won Dallas with 44% of the vote.^[15] In the runoff, Veasey defeated Garcia, 53%-47%. He carried Tarrant with a 68% of the vote, as opposed to Garcia's 70% in Dallas.^[16] In the general election, he defeated Republican Chuck Bradley, 73%-26%. He won Tarrant with 78% of the vote and Dallas with 66% of the vote.^[17][18] Veasey is the first African-American U.S. Representative elected from Tarrant County.^[19]

2014

Veasey won re-nomination in the March 4 primary, defeating Tom Sanchez, 13,285 votes (73.5%) to 4,797 (26.5%).^[20] He faced no Republican opponent in the general election but Jason Reeves qualified for the ballot as a Libertarian.^[21]

2016

Veasey won re-nomination in the March 1 primary against activist Carlos Quintanilla with 63% of the vote. He lost Dallas County but won Tarrant County. He defeated Republican M. Mark Mitchell in the general election, 74% to 26%. Veasey spent $1.5 million on his campaign.

2018

Veasey again defeated Quintanilla in the primary, with 70% of the vote. In the general election he defeated Republican Willie Billups and Libertarian Jason Reeves with 76%.

2020

Veasey defeated Sean Segura in the primary, 64% to 36%. He was endorsed by the Dallas Morning News, which claimed Segura "lacks a cohesive knowledge of the district’s public policy needs."^[22]

In the general election, Veasey beat Republican Fabian Cordova Vasquez and three minor candidates, including Quintanilla, with 67% of the vote, his weakest showing to date, largely due to Quintanilla's independent candidacy.^[23]

Civil rights

Veasey is a supporter of a woman's right to abortion.^[25]

Veasey voted for the Violence Against Women Act and was rated the "preferred" candidate in 2020 by Feminist Majority Foundation.^[26] He co-sponsored the Student Non-Discrimination Act.^[26]

Energy and oil

Veasey has agreed with The Heritage Foundation and opposed the Sierra Club on Offshore oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico.^[27]

Veasey defended Texas oil and interests in February 2021 when President Joe Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline and issued a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters.^[28]