Colin Zachary Allred (born April 15, 1983) is an American politician, lawyer, and former professional football player. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he is the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from . The district includes the northeastern corner of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

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

Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

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 comprise ...

, and

Rowlett Rowlett (, traditionally ) is a city in Dallas County, Texas, Dallas and Rockwall County, Texas, Rockwall counties in the U.S. state of Texas, and an eastern suburb of Dallas. The total population estimate is 73,270 in 2021. It is a growing, upsc ...

. 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, pl ...

who played for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

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 ma ...

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

J.D. JD or jd may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''JD'' (film), a 2016 Bollywood film * J.D. (''Scrubs''), nickname of Dr. John Dorian, fictional protagonist of the comedy-drama ''Scrubs'' * JD Fenix, a character from the ''Gears of War'' vi ...

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 u ...

, followed by positions in both the Obama administration 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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and football. He accepted a scholarship to play college football at

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 the ...

. He played for the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only two private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior to jo ...

as a

. In December 2005, Allred graduated from Baylor with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

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

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 is a ...

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 ad ...

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 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

degree from the

UC Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...

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 U ...

's Office of General Counsel alongside then-Secretary

Julian Castro Julián Castro ( , ; born September 16, 1974) is an American lawyer and politician from San Antonio. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the youngest member of President Obama's cabinet, serving as the 16th United States Secretary of Hou ...

in the Obama administration. Subsequently, Allred worked as an attorney at the

Perkins Coie Perkins Coie is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1912, it is recognized as an Am Law 50 firm. It is the largest law firm headquartered in the Pacific Northwest and has 20 offices across the ...

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 Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

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 1 ...

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 U ...

administration alums, Allred finished first, by 20 points, but did not get 50% of the vote. In the May 22

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

, Allred defeated Lewisville businesswoman

Lillian Salerno Lillian Salerno (born 1961) is an American attorney and entrepreneur who serves as USDA Rural Development State Director in Texas from 2022. She served as the Deputy Under Secretary of Rural Development of the United States Department of Agricul ...

, 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 rid ...

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 senat ...

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 ...

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 d ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. In February 2019, Allred endorsed his former boss and fellow Texan, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary

, in the

2020 Democratic presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 3,979 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention held on August 17–20 to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 Unit ...

. 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 A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

** Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials * Committee on Veterans' Affairs **

Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs The United States Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs is one of the four subcommittees within the United States House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Jurisdiction From the ...

Caucus memberships

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the P ...

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a moderate-to-conservative approach to fiscal matters. As of S ...

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 wi ...

. 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