Colin Allred

American politician (born 1983)

Colin Zachary Allred (born April 15, 1983) is an American politician and civil rights attorney. He used to be a professional football player. He is a Democrat. Since 2019, he is the U.S. Representative for Texas's 32nd congressional district. That district covers the northeastern corner of Dallas. It also has many of its northeastern suburbs such as Garland, Richardson, the Park Cities and Rowlett.

Colin Allred
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 40)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
Alexandra Eber (m. 2017)
EducationBaylor University (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (JD)
WebsiteHouse website

Football career
No. 56
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:238 lb (108 kg)
Career information
High school:Hillcrest (Dallas, Texas)
College:Baylor
Undrafted:2006
Career history
Tennessee Titans (20062010)
Career NFL statistics
Tackles:41
Sacks:0.0
INTs:0
Player stats at NFL.com

When he was a football player, he was a linebacker who played for the Tennessee Titans in the National Football League (NFL). Allred stopped playing football to go back to law school for a Juris Doctor degree, from the University of California, Berkeley. He then worked in the Obama administration[1] and the U.S. Attorney's office.[2]

Football career change

Allred went to Hillcrest High School in Dallas, and then to Baylor University. He played college football at Baylor; he was a linebacker. In December 2005, Allred graduated from Baylor with a B.A. degree in history.[3][4]

 
Allred (#56) on a defensive play during Tennessee Titans training camp in 2008

Allred joined the Tennessee Titans after the 2006 NFL Draft on May 4, 2006.[3]

Law career change

After his football career, Allred went to law school. He graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law in 2014.[4] Then, Allred was a special assistant in the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of General Counsel.[5]

After that, Allred worked as a lawyer at the Perkins Coie law firm, where he worked on voting rights cases. He also served as the lawyer for different political candidates and advocacy groups.[5][6]

Politico, a political news source, described him as a "civil rights attorney."[7]

U.S. House of Representatives change

On April 21, 2017, Allred said he would challenge the current Representative from his district, Republican Pete Sessions, in the 2018 election.[8] Allred won the most votes in the Democratic primary, but did not get more than 50 percent; he won by 20 points. Two of the other candidates also used to work in the Obama administration.[9] In the May 22 runoff election, Allred beat Lewisville businesswoman Lillian Salerno, receiving 69.5% of the vote.[10]

Allred then competed with Sessions for the 32nd District seat. As of the November 2016 election, the seat was considered a "swing district" because Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received marginally more votes than Donald Trump even as Sessions, a Republican, was reelected with no major-party opposition.[11] Allred has described himself as a moderate Democrat.[7]

On November 6, 2018, Allred was elected to the United States House of Representatives for the 32nd district of Texas.[12] Allred's victory was considered an upset because Sessions has been in Congress since 1997 and has represented the 32nd District since 2003.[13] Allred became the second person to represent this district since it was created in 2003, and the first Democrat. Sessions used to represent the nearby 5th District, but had switched after the district maps were changed.

In February 2019, Allred endorsed Julian Castro in the 2020 presidential race. Castro, like Allred, is from Texas. Castro used to be the Housing and Urban Development Secretary.[14]

Service change

Allred was elected in November 2018 as co-president of the 116th Congressional Freshman Class. The other president was Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan.[15]

Committee assignments change

  • Committee on Foreign Affairs
    • Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and International Terrorism
  • Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
    • Subcommittee on Aviation
    • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
    • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials
  • Committee on Veterans' Affairs
    • Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs

Caucus memberships change

  • Congressional Black Caucus
  • New Democrat Coalition

Personal life change

Allred married Alexandra Eber on March 25, 2017.[16] Their son, Jordan, was born on February 12, 2019.[17]

References change

  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. 3.0 3.1 "Colin Allred". Tennessee Titans. Archived from the original on January 6, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Bioguide Search".
  5. 5.0 5.1 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.
  6. "2015 Perkins Coie Diversity Year In Review". Perkins Coie. January 29, 2017.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Caygle, Heather (November 24, 2018). "It's not just Ocasio-Cortez: Here are 7 freshman Democrats to watch". Politico. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. "Texas Primary Runoff Election Results". The New York Times. May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. Evans, Molly (November 7, 2018). "Texas Midterm Election Results: Abbott, Cruz Win Re-Election; Allred Beats Sessions". KERA-TV. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  14. Montellaro, Zach (February 20, 2019). "Sanders sprints out of the gate in his presidential bid". Politico. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  15. 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.
  16. "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.
  17. Garcia, Eric (February 13, 2019). "Colin Allred welcomes new child". The Hill. Retrieved February 17, 2019.

Other websites change