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 . The district includes the northeastern corner of

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, as well as many of its northeastern suburbs, such as Garland,

Richardson Richardson may refer to: People * Richardson (surname), an English and Scottish surname * Richardson Gang, a London crime gang in the 1960s * Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962) Places Australia * Richardson, Australian Capi ...

, Sachse, Wylie, the

Park Cities Park Cities is a term used in reference to two communities in Dallas County, Texas – the Town of Highland Park and the City of University Park. The two municipalities, which share a border, are surrounded by the city of Dallas and compr ...

, and Rowlett. Allred is a lawyer and former

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

who played for the Tennessee Titans of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL). He left football to pursue a degree in law, receiving his J.D. from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, followed by positions in both the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

and the U.S. Attorney's office.

Football career

Allred attended Hillcrest High School in Dallas, where he played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and football. He accepted a scholarship to play

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of th ...

. He played for the Baylor Bears as a

. In December 2005, Allred graduated from Baylor with a B.A. in history. As a senior, he was All-Big 12 honorable mention. left, 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 In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who i ...

following the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with add ...

on May 4, 2006. He was waived on August 29 but re-signed on January 26, 2007. Next, Allred was waived on September 1 during final cuts, and was subsequently signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on September 2. He was promoted to the active roster on December 15 and re-signed on February 17, 2010.

Law career

After his football career, Allred enrolled in law school. After receiving his J.D. degree from the UC Berkeley School of Law in 2014, he worked as a special assistant in the

Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...

's Office of General Counsel alongside then-Secretary Julian Castro in the Obama administration. 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. ''Politico'' described him as a "civil rights attorney."

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

On April 21, 2017, Allred announced his campaign to challenge incumbent Republican

Pete Sessions Peter Anderson Sessions (born March 22, 1955) is an American politician from Texas who is the U.S. representative for Texas's 17th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he has served in the U.S. House of Representatives for ...

in 2018. In a crowded Democratic primary that included two other

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

administration alums, Allred finished first, by 20 points, but did not get 50% of the vote. In the May 22 runoff election, Allred defeated Lewisville businesswoman Lillian Salerno, receiving 69.5% of the vote. Allred faced Sessions in the general election. As of November 2016, this was considered a

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing ri ...

district because Democratic presidential candidate

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

received marginally more votes than

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

even as Sessions was reelected with no major-party opposition. Allred has described himself as a moderate Democrat. On November 6, 2018, Allred was elected to the House of Representatives for the 32nd district of Texas. His victory was considered an upset because Sessions had been in Congress since 1997 and represented the 32nd district since its creation in 2003. 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

In November 2018, Allred was elected co-president of the 116th Congressional Freshman Class, alongside fellow Obama administration alumna

Haley Stevens Haley Maria Stevens (born June 24, 1983) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, Stevens is the member–elect for the redrawn 11th district in the 2022 election, having de ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

. In February 2019, Allred endorsed his former boss and fellow Texan, former

Housing and Urban Development Secretary The United States secretary of housing and urban development (or HUD secretary) is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the president's Cabinet, and thirteenth in the presidential line of succ ...

Julian Castro, in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. After Castro withdrew from the race, Allred endorsed Joe Biden. On December 18, 2019, Allred voted for both articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump. He also voted to impeach Trump in January 2021 during his second impeachment. In 2021, Allred sought over $241 million in earmarks for his district, which was among the largest earmark requests of any House member. As of September 2021, Allred had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Foreign Affairs ** Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and International Terrorism *

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works a ...

** 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

* Congressional Black Caucus * New Democrat Coalition

Electoral history

Personal life

Allred was born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. His father is black and his mother is white. He married Alexandra Eber on March 25, 2017. They have two sons, born in 2019 and 2021.

References

External links

Congressman Colin Allred
official U.S. House website
Colin Allred for CongressTennessee Titans profile
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Allred, Colin 1983 births African-American lawyers African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American people in Texas politics American athlete-politicians American football linebackers American justices of the peace Baylor Bears football players Baylor University alumni UC Berkeley School of Law alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Hillcrest High School (Dallas) alumni Living people Obama administration personnel Players of American football from Houston Players of American football from Dallas Tennessee Titans players Texas lawyers United States Department of Housing and Urban Development officials Politicians from Houston