Colin Allred
Allred in 2022
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 32nd district
Assumed office
January 3, 2019
Preceded byPete Sessions
Personal details
Born
Colin Zachary Allred

(1983-04-15) April 15, 1983 (age 41)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Alexandra Eber
​
(m. 2017)​
Children2
EducationBaylor University (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (JD)
WebsiteHouse website
American football career
No. 56
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:242 lb (110 kg)
Career information
High school:Hillcrest (Dallas, Texas)
College:Baylor
Undrafted:2006
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:41
Player stats at PFR

Colin Zachary Allred (born April 15, 1983) is an American politician, lawyer, and former professional football player. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the U.S. representative from Texas's 32nd congressional district. The district includes the northeastern corner of Dallas, as well as many of its northeastern suburbs, such as Garland, Richardson, Sachse, Wylie, the Park Cities, and Rowlett.

Allred was a linebacker who played for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons. He left football to pursue a degree in law, receiving his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, followed by positions in the Obama administration,[1] first at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and later at the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.[2] On May 3, 2023, Allred announced his candidacy in the 2024 United States Senate election in Texas to take on Ted Cruz.[3] He won the Democratic nomination on March 5, 2024, and will face Cruz in the November general election.

Early life and education

[edit]

Allred was born in Dallas, Texas. Allred attended Hillcrest High School in Dallas, where he played baseball, basketball and football. He accepted a scholarship to play college football at Baylor University.[4] He played for the Baylor Bears as a linebacker.[5] In December 2005, Allred graduated from Baylor with a B.A. in history.[6][7] As a senior, he was All-Big 12 honorable mention.[8]

Professional career

[edit]

Football

[edit]
Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 1+1⁄8 in
(1.86 m) 		237 lb
(108 kg) 		4.85 s 4.37 s 7.33 s 34.0 in
(0.86 m)		 9 ft 7 in
(2.92 m)		 17 reps
All values from Pro Day[9]
Allred (#56) on a defensive play during Tennessee Titans training camp in 2008

Allred was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent following the 2006 NFL draft on May 4, 2006. He was waived on August 29 but re-signed on January 26, 2007. Allred was waived again on September 1 during final cuts and signed to the practice squad on September 2. He was promoted to the active roster on December 15 and made his NFL regular season debut on December 16, 2007.[10]

In four seasons for the Titans between 2007 and 2010, Allred appeared in 32 games and recorded 46 tackles.[11]

He became a free agent before the 2011 season, but did not sign with another team.[12]

Law

[edit]

After his football career, Allred enrolled in law school. After receiving his J.D. degree from the UC Berkeley School of Law in 2014,[7] he worked as a special assistant in the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of General Counsel alongside then-Secretary Julian Castro in the Obama administration.[13]

Subsequently, Allred worked as an attorney at the Perkins Coie law firm, where he was a voting rights litigator and counsel to clients including national and state political candidates and advocacy organizations.[13][14]

U.S. House of Representatives

[edit]

Elections

[edit]

2018

[edit]

On April 21, 2017, Allred announced his campaign to challenge incumbent Republican Pete Sessions in 2018.[15] In a crowded Democratic primary that included two other Obama administration alums, Allred finished first, by 20 points, but did not get 50% of the vote.[16] In the May 22 runoff election, Allred defeated Lewisville businesswoman Lillian Salerno, receiving 69.5% of the vote.[17]

Allred faced Sessions in the general election. As of November 2016, this was considered a swing district because Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received marginally more votes than Donald Trump even as Sessions was reelected with no major-party opposition.[18] Allred described himself as a moderate Democrat.[19]

On November 6, 2018, Allred was elected to the House of Representatives for the 32nd district of Texas.[20] His victory was considered an upset because Sessions had been in Congress since 1997 and represented the 32nd district since its creation in 2003.[21] Allred became the second person to represent this district and the first Democrat. Sessions had represented the neighboring 5th district, and transferred to the 32nd after the 5th was seemingly made less Republican in redistricting. As a measure of how Republican this area had been, much of what is now the 32nd had not been represented by a Democrat since 1968, when it was part of the neighboring 3rd district. Allred was one of two former NFL players to win a seat in Congress that year, along with Anthony Gonzalez.

Tenure

[edit]

In November 2018, Allred was elected co-president of the Democratic freshmen of the 116th Congress, alongside fellow Obama administration alumna Haley Stevens.[22]

In February 2019, Allred endorsed his former boss and fellow Texan, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.[23] After Castro withdrew from the race, Allred endorsed Joe Biden.[24]

On December 18, 2019, Allred voted for both articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump.[25] He also voted to impeach Trump in January 2021 during his second impeachment.[26]

In 2021, Allred sought over $241 million in earmarks for his district, largely for projects at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.[27]

Committee assignments

[edit]

Caucus memberships

[edit]

2024 U.S. Senate campaign

[edit]

On May 3, 2023, Allred announced his candidacy for the United States Senate in 2024, challenging Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.[29] On March 5, 2024, Allred won the primary nomination for the Democratic Party.[30]

Political positions

[edit]

In a survey of House floor votes taken during the 117th United States Congress (2021–22), Allred's votes consistently aligned with the positions of the Biden Administration.[31]

Abortion rights

[edit]

Allred opposes the state abortion ban in Texas, and supports the restoration of Roe v. Wade through codification.[32]

COVID-19

[edit]

Allred has consistently emphasized the importance of vaccination against COVID-19[33] and has criticized others for spreading misinformation about the vaccine.[34] In January 2021, he stated that, while supportive of the economic stimulus proposed at the time, vaccination was the most important step people could take, noting that "[n]o amount of aid of any kind is going to allow us to outspend this virus."[33] He has also opposed overriding the Medicare and Medicaid rules around requiring health care workers to be vaccinated.[35][36]

Foreign policy

[edit]

Israel

[edit]

In October 2023, Allred voted to provide Israel with support following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.[37][38]

In December 2023, Allred voted in favor of House Resolution 894 condemning anti-Zionism as antisemitism.[39]

Syria

[edit]

In 2023, Allred voted against H.Con.Res. 21 which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.[40][41]

Gun laws

[edit]

In the wake of the 2023 Cleveland, Texas shooting, Allred stated that he supports "common-sense actions like universal background checks and red-flag laws to ensure dangerous individuals don’t have these deadly weapons."[42] In 2022, after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Allred voted for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act; this law incentivized states to pass red-flag laws and significantly narrowed the so-called boyfriend loophole, which had allowed abusive partners to obtain guns so long as they were not married to the survivor of the abuse. He has also supported a federal assault weapons ban.[43][44]

Immigration

[edit]

Allred has stated that he wishes to take a "pragmatic approach to reforming our broken immigration system," emphasizing the need to "secure our border and our ports of entry" using recent technologies.[45] In 2019, he opposed deploying troops along the southern border.[46] In January 2024, Allred was one of only 14 Democrats who voted for a resolution to "denounce the Biden administration's open-borders policies".[47][48]

Personal life

[edit]

Allred married Alexandra Eber on March 25, 2017.[49] They have two sons, born in 2019 and 2021.[50] He is related to former Texas Governor James V. Allred.[51]

Electoral history

[edit]
Democratic primary results, 2018[52]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Colin Allred 15,442 38.5
Democratic Lillian Salerno 7,343 18.3
Democratic Brett Shipp 6,550 16.4
Democratic Ed Meier 5,474 13.7
Democratic George Rodriguez 3,029 7.5
Democratic Ron Marshall 1,301 3.2
Democratic Todd Maternowski 945 2.4
Total votes 40,084 100.0
Democratic primary runoff results, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Colin Allred 15,658 69.5
Democratic Lillian Salerno 6,874 30.5
Total votes 22,532 100
Texas's 32nd congressional district, 2018[53]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Colin Allred 144,067 52.3
Republican Pete Sessions (incumbent) 126,101 45.7
Libertarian Melina Baker 5,452 2.0
Total votes 275,620 100.0
Democratic gain from Republican
Texas's 32nd congressional district, 2020[54]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Colin Allred (incumbent) 178,542 52.0
Republican Genevieve Collins 157,867 45.9
Libertarian Christy Mowrey Peterson 4,946 1.4
Independent Jason Sigmon 2,332 0.7
Total votes 343,687 100.0
Democratic hold
Texas's 32nd congressional district, 2022
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Colin Allred (incumbent) 116,005 65.3
Republican Antonio Swad 61,494 34.6
Total votes 177,499 100.0
Democratic hold
United States Senate Democratic primary results, 2024[55]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Colin Allred 569,585 58.9
Democratic Roland Gutierrez 160,978 16.7
Democratic Mark Gonzalez 85,228 8.8
Democratic Meri Gomez 44,166 4.6
Democratic Carl Sherman 31,694 3.3
Democratic Robert Hassan 21,855 2.3
Democratic Steven Keough 21,801 2.3
Democratic Heli Rodriguez-Prilliman 18,801 1.9
Democratic Thierry Tchenko 13,395 1.4
Total votes 967,503 100.00

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Full list of White House summer interns for 2013". The Washington Post. July 12, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  2. ^ Jeffers, Gromer Jr. (October 21, 2018). "Colin Allred is a son of his Dallas district. Can he unseat the man who's represented it for decades?". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  3. ^ "Rep. Colin Allred launches Senate bid to oust Ted Cruz". Dallas News. May 3, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  4. ^ Gonzales, Nathan L. (June 21, 2019). "For Colin Allred, Major League dreams are close to coming true". Roll Call. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  5. ^ "Colin Allred". Baylor Bears. Archived from the original on August 29, 2006.
  6. ^ "Colin Allred". Tennessee Titans. Archived from the original on January 6, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress - Retro Member details". bioguideretro.congress.gov.
  8. ^ "2005 SBC All-Big 12 Conference Football Awards Announced". Big 12. November 29, 2005. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  9. ^ "Colin Allred, Baylor, OLB, 2006 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  10. ^ "Colin Allred career game logs". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  11. ^ "Colin Allred". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  12. ^ Coin Allred Transactions and injuries, Sports Forecaster, July 25, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  13. ^ a b Chung, Renwei (February 9, 2018). "Berkeley Law Alum And Former NFL Player Colin Allred On Following Obama, The American Dream, And His Path Back To Dallas". Above the Law.
  14. ^ "2015 Perkins Coie Diversity Year In Review". Perkins Coie. January 29, 2017.
  15. ^ Jeffers Jr., Gromer (April 19, 2017). "Former NFL player Colin Allred launches campaign to unseat Pete Sessions". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  16. ^ Jeffers Jr., Gromer (May 22, 2018). "Colin Allred beats Lillian Salerno for chance to unseat incumbent Republican Pete Sessions | 2018 Elections". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  17. ^ "Texas Primary Runoff Election Results". The New York Times. May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  18. ^ Livingston, Abby (May 22, 2018). "Texas congressional Democratic runoff results: Lizzie Pannill Fletcher and Gina Ortiz Jones win". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  19. ^ Caygle, Heather (November 24, 2018). "It's not just Ocasio-Cortez: Here are 7 freshman Democrats to watch". Politico. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  20. ^ Schwartz, Brian (November 6, 2018). "Democrat and ex-NFL player Colin Allred projected to beat longtime GOP Rep. Pete Sessions in Texas". CNBC. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  21. ^ Evans, Molly (November 7, 2018). "Texas Midterm Election Results: Abbott, Cruz Win Re-Election; Allred Beats Sessions". KERA-TV. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  22. ^ Gillman, Todd J. (November 28, 2018). "Colin Allred elected freshman class co-president by new Democrats in Congress". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  23. ^ Montellaro, Zach (February 20, 2019). "Sanders sprints out of the gate in his presidential bid". Politico. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  24. ^ Klar, Rebecca (January 13, 2020). "Tenth Congressional Black Caucus member backs Biden". The Hill. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  25. ^ Panetta, Grace. "WHIP COUNT: Here's which members of the House voted for and against impeaching Trump". Business Insider.
  26. ^ "Here's how the House voted on Trump's second impeachment". Politico.com.
  27. ^ Shutt, Jennifer (May 26, 2021). "Vulnerable Democrats bet earmark stigma has worn off". Roll Call. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  28. ^ "Leadership | New Democrat Coalition". newdemocratcoalition.house.gov. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  29. ^ Fink, Jack (May 3, 2023). "Rep. Colin Allred launches campaign to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz". CBS News. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  30. ^ Goodman, J. David (March 6, 2024). "Colin Allred Wins Democratic Contest to Take On Senator Ted Cruz in Texas". The New York Times. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  31. ^ Bycoffe, Anna Wiederkehr and Aaron (January 3, 2023). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  32. ^ Allred, Colin (December 17, 2023). "Our state's cruel abortion ban is deeply anti-freedom and deeply un-Texan". Twitter. Retrieved March 22, 2024. Our state's cruel abortion ban is deeply anti-freedom and deeply un-Texan. And it's folks like Ted Cruz pushing these cruel laws. When I'm in the Senate, I'll work to codify Roe and go back to the standard we had for the last 50 years.
  33. ^ a b McCardel, Michael (January 17, 2021) [January 16, 2021]. "Inside Texas Politics: Rep. Allred says vaccination, not spending, will get U.S. out of pandemic". WFAA. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  34. ^ Caldwell, Emily (January 10, 2023). "Colin Allred calls now-deleted tweet from Ted Cruz 'a new low' after Damar Hamlin collapse". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  35. ^ "Seven Democrats join Republicans in vote to lift vaccine mandate for healthcare workers". January 31, 2023.
  36. ^ "On Passage - H.R.497: To eliminate the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on". August 12, 2015.
  37. ^ Demirjian, Karoun (October 25, 2023). "House Declares Solidarity With Israel in First Legislation Under New Speaker". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  38. ^ Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601 (October 25, 2023). "Roll Call 528 Roll Call 528, Bill Number: H. Res. 771, 118th Congress, 1st Session". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved October 30, 2023.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  39. ^ Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601 (December 5, 2023). "Roll Call 697, Bill Number: H. Res. 894, 118th Congress, 1st Session". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved May 14, 2024.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  40. ^ "H.Con.Res. 21: Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of … -- House Vote #136 -- Mar 8, 2023". GovTrack.us. March 8, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  41. ^ "House Votes Down Bill Directing Removal of Troops From Syria". US News & World Report. March 8, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  42. ^ "Allred Statement in Response to Mass Shooting in San Jacinto County" (Press release). Dallas: Office of U.S. Representative Colin Allred. April 29, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  43. ^ McKend, Daniella Diaz, Annie Grayer, Eva (July 29, 2022). "House passes assault-style weapons ban | CNN Politics". CNN.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  44. ^ "H.R.698 - Assault Weapons Ban of 2023". Congress.gov. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  45. ^ "Homeland Security, Public Safety and Immigration". Office of U.S. Representative Colin Allred. May 7, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  46. ^ "H.Amdt. 558 (Ocasio-Cortez) to H.R. 2500: To prohibit the President … -- House Vote #467 -- Jul 12, 2019".
  47. ^ Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154; p:225-7000, DC 20515-6601 (January 17, 2024). "Roll Call 13 Roll Call 13, Bill Number: H. Res. 957, 118th Congress, 2nd Session". Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved March 22, 2024.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  48. ^ Choi, Matthew (January 18, 2024). "U.S. Rep. Colin Allred joins Republicans to condemn Biden's handling of border". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  49. ^ "Colin Allred & Alexandra Eber Engagement Announcement". The Dallas Morning News. April 30, 2017. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  50. ^ Dunaway-Seale, Jaime. "US Rep. Colin Allred welcomes newest member of the family". Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  51. ^ @ColinAllredTX (April 12, 2024). "When I toured President Lyndon B. Johnson's boyhood home with his daughter Luci, it wasn't the first time an Allred and a Johnson got together to talk about the future of our state. Here is my relative, former Governor of Texas James V. Allred with LBJ and President Franklin Roosevelt" (Tweet). Retrieved April 12, 2024 – via Twitter.
  52. ^ "2018 Primary Election Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  53. ^ "Texas Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  54. ^ "Texas Election Results - Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  55. ^ "Texas Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
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Colin Allred
U.S. House of Representatives Preceded byPete Sessions Member of the U.S. House of Representativesfrom Texas's 32nd congressional district 2019–present Incumbent Party political offices Preceded byElizabeth Warren Keynote Speaker of the Democratic National Convention 2020 Served alongside: Stacey Abrams, Raumesh Akbari, Brendan Boyle, Yvanna Cancela, Kathleen Clyde, Nikki Fried, Robert Garcia, Malcolm Kenyatta, Marlon Kimpson, Conor Lamb, Mari Manoogian, Victoria Neave, Jonathan Nez, Sam Park, Denny Ruprecht, Randall Woodfin Most recent Preceded byBeto O'Rourke Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Texas(Class 1) 2024 U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) Preceded byTom Suozzi United States representatives by seniority 226th Succeeded byKelly Armstrong
Majority
Speaker: Mike Johnson ‧ Majority Leader: Steve Scalise ‧ Majority Whip: Tom Emmer
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Minority Leader: Hakeem Jeffries ‧ Minority Whip: Katherine Clark
Texas's delegation(s) to the 116th–present United States Congress (ordered by seniority)
116th
Senate: ▌J. Cornyn (R) · ▌T. Cruz (R)
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117th
Senate: ▌J. Cornyn (R) · ▌T. Cruz (R)
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