Colin Zachary Allred (born April 15, 1983) is an American politician,

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

lawyer, and former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for from 2019 to 2025. The district includes the northeastern corner of

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, 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. In contemporary times ...

, Richardson, Sachse, Wylie, and the Park Cities. Before entering politics, Allred was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for four seasons. He was released after 4 years and no other team signed him so 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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, followed by positions in 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. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

, first at 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 ...

and later at the

Executive Office for United States Attorneys The Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) is the office within the Department of Justice that provides executive and administrative support for the 93 United States Attorneys located throughout the 50 states, District of Columbia, ...

. A member of the Democratic Party, Allred defeated 11-term incumbent

Pete Sessions Peter Anderson Sessions (born March 22, 1955) is an American politician who serves in the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 17th congressional district as a member of the Republican Party. He chaired the House Rules Committee ...

in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas. Allred challenged Republican incumbent

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...

in the 2024 United States Senate election in Texas. He was defeated by Cruz in the general election. Not having run for re-election as a U.S. representative, he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Julie Johnson.

Early life and education

Allred was born in

, Texas. He was raised by a single mother who was a public school teacher. A fourth-generation Texan, Allred attended Hillcrest High School in Dallas, where he played baseball, basketball and football, and served as

class president A class president, also known as a class representative, is usually the leader of a student body class, and presides over its class cabinet or organization within a student council. In a grade school, class presidents are generally elected by ...

. He earned a scholarship to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

. In 2001, Allred began to play 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 three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

as a

under head coach Guy Morriss. In 2005, he was selected as the

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

and defensive

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

. In December 2005, Allred graduated from Baylor with a Bachelor of Arts in history. As a senior, he received All-Big 12 honorable mention from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. He was also selected as a first-team Academic All-Big 12 in 2004 and 2005.

Professional career

Football

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 or manager 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 a contract at present ...

following the

2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL 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 additional coverage offe ...

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 In gridiron football, 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. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on September 2. He was promoted to the active roster as

on December 15 and made his NFL regular season debut on December 16, 2007. In four seasons for the Titans between 2007 and 2010, Allred appeared in 32 games and recorded 46 tackles. On October 10, 2010, during a Titans game with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

, he was severely injured in the neck during a game when he collided with Cowboys player

Martellus Bennett Martellus Demond Bennett (born March 10, 1987) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a tight end for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies f ...

. He subsequently decided to retire from football and go to law school, and he became a free agent before the 2011 season without signing with another team.

Law

In 2011, Allred enrolled at the

UC Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of California, Berkeley. The school was commonly referred to as "Boalt Hall" for many years, although it was ...

. He worked as a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, research institute, or privately held organization to provide assistance in academic or private research endeavors. Research assistants work under ...

for professor and author Ian Haney López and graduated in 2014 with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree. After graduating from law school, Allred worked for Battleground Texas as its Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Director of Voter Protection, overseeing the state's first coordinated voter protection program. His responsibilities included overseeing the

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise Suffrage, eligible to Voting, vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted ...

efforts of volunteers and managing a poll watcher program. In 2016, he worked as a special assistant in the

'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, Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the youngest member of President Obama's cabinet, serving as the 16th United States secretar ...

in the Obama administration. Subsequently, Allred worked as a civil rights attorney at the law firm

Perkins Coie Perkins Coie LLP ( ) is an American law firm based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1912, it is recognized by The American Lawyer as being one of the top 50 firms in the US. It is the largest law firm headquartered in the Pacific Northwest and ...

, where he was a

voting rights Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...

litigator and counsel to clients including national and state political candidates and advocacy organizations.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

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

in 2018. 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. In the May 22

runoff election The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

, 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 district because Democratic presidential candidate

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

received marginally more votes than

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

even as Sessions was reelected with no major-party opposition. Allred described himself as a moderate Democrat. U.S. Representative

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

rallied in support of Allred in October. 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 District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...

, 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.

2022

The

United States Chamber of Commerce The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is a business association advocacy group and is the largest lobbying group in the United States. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urging of President Will ...

, which often backs Republican candidates, endorsed Allred, a Democrat, in the 2022 House election.

Tenure

Allred was elected co-president of the Democratic freshmen of the 116th Congress (2019–2021), alongside fellow Obama administration alumna

Haley Stevens Haley Maria Stevens (born June 24, 1983) is an American politician serving her fourth term as the U.S. representative from since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, Stevens represents most of urbanized Oakland County, including many of ...

whom he later endorsed in 2022 in her competitive primary against Andy Levin. He 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 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 election. The primaries and caucuses took p ...

. After Castro withdrew from the race, he endorsed

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

. Allred voted for the two articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump in his first impeachment in 2019. He also voted to impeach him during his second impeachment in 2021 following the January 6 Capitol attack. During his tenure, Allred worked with Senator

John Cornyn John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. ...

on the

Bipartisan Safer Communities Act The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is a United States federal law, passed in 2022. It implemented several changes to the mental health system, school safety programs, and gun control laws. Gun control laws in the bill include extended backgrou ...

. He also initiated efforts to establish the

VA Medical Center, and supported passage of legislation for new veterans' facilities, including a VA clinic in

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

and a spinal cord injury center in

in 2022. Additionally, he supported the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which secured funds for infrastructure upgrades at the Corpus Christi Port Ship Channel. He also sought $241 million in earmarks for his district, for projects largely at

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is the primary international airport serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the North Texas region, in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest hub for American Airlines, which is headquartere ...

in 2021. In 2023, the Common Ground Committee named Allred the most bipartisan member of Congress from Texas.

Committee assignments

Representative Collin Allred Foreign Affairs Committee

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

Caucus memberships

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is made up of Black members of the United States Congress. Representative Yvette Clarke from New York, the current chairperson, succeeded Steven Horsford from Nevada in 2025. Although most members belong ...

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 liberals and centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a liberal-to-moderate approach to fiscal matte ...

* Bipartisan Paid Leave Working Group * Supply Chain Caucus; Co-chair * Future Forum; Co-chair of Communications

2024 U.S. Senate campaign

On May 3, 2023, Allred announced his candidacy for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, challenging Republican incumbent

. In March 2024, he won the primary nomination for the Democratic Party. Allred's endorsements include the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for L ...

, National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare, and End Citizens United. On November 5, 2024, Allred lost the general election to Cruz by 8.6 points.

Political positions

Senator Collin Allred Chamber of Commerce

The

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

has given Allred a 100% voting record on union related issues. Over 70% of the bills he has cosponsored have had bipartisan support.

Abortion rights

Allred opposes the state abortion ban in Texas, and supports the restoration of ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...

'' through codification.

COVID-19

Allred emphasized the importance of vaccination against COVID-19, and criticized others for spreading misinformation about the vaccine. In 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 " amount of aid of any kind is going to allow us to outspend this virus." He has also opposed overriding the Medicare and

Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

rules around requiring health care workers to be vaccinated.

Foreign policy

Allred voted in December 2023 to provide Israel with support following the Hamas attack on Israel. He voted two months later in favor of House Resolution 894 condemning

anti-Zionism Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. Allred voted in 2023 against H.Con.Res. 21 which directed President

to remove U.S. troops from

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

within 180 days.

Gun laws

In 2022, after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, he voted for the

; this law incentivized states to pass red-flag laws and significantly narrowed the so-called boyfriend loophole, which had allowed

abusive Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, ...

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 The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB or FAWB), was subtitle A of title XI of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, Violent Crime Control and Law ...

Immigration

Collin Allred Border Security Task Force

In 2019, he opposed deploying troops along the southern border. In January 2024, Allred was one of 14 Democrats who voted for a resolution to "denounce the Biden administration's open-borders policies".

Voting rights

Allred led a group of House Democrats in 2021 in sending a letter to their Senate colleagues urging them to pass the "Freedom to Vote Act". A year later, he was a lead cosponsor for the Sustaining Our Democracy Act which would upgrade voting equipment, improve

cybersecurity Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

, expand early voting, and hire and train poll workers.

Personal life

Allred married Alexandra Eber on March 25, 2017. They have two sons, born in 2019 and 2021. Allred is related to former

Texas governor The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constitut ...

James V. Allred.

NFL statistics

Electoral history

References

External links

Colin Allred for Senate
campaign website * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Allred, Colin 1983 births 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American lawyers 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 21st-century Texas politicians African-American candidates for the United States Senate African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American people in Texas politics American athlete-politicians American civil rights lawyers American football linebackers American justices of the peace Baylor Bears football players Baylor University alumni Candidates in the 2024 United States Senate elections 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 Politicians from Houston Tennessee Titans players Texas lawyers UC Berkeley School of Law alumni United States Department of Housing and Urban Development officials