Colin Allred

Colin Allred
Official portrait, 2022
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas
Assuming office
January 3, 2027
SucceedingJulie Johnson (redistricted)
Constituency33rd district
In office
January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2025
Preceded byPete Sessions
Succeeded byJulie Johnson
Constituency32nd district
Personal details
Born
Colin Zachary Allred

(1983-04-15) April 15, 1983 (age 43)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
Alexandra Eber
​
(m. 2017)​
Children2
EducationBaylor University (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (JD)
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:46
Player stats at PFR

Colin Zachary Allred (born April 15, 1983) is an American politician and civil rights attorney who is the member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 33rd congressional district. He used to be a professional football player. He is a Democrat. He was the U.S. Representative for Texas's 32nd congressional district from 2019 to 2025. That district covers the northeastern corner of Dallas. It also has many of its northeastern suburbs such as Garland, Richardson, University Park, Highland Park and Rowlett.

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 and the U.S. Attorney's office.

Allred unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2024 against incumbent Republican Senator Ted Cruz. He ran for the U.S. Senate again in 2026, however dropped out before the primaries to successfully run against U.S. Representative Julie Johnson in the 33rd congressional district.

Football career

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.

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.

Law career

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

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.

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

U.S. House of Representatives

On April 21, 2017, Allred said he would challenge the current Representative from his district, Republican Pete Sessions, in the 2018 election. 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. In the May 22 runoff election, Allred beat Lewisville businesswoman Lillian Salerno, receiving 69.5% of the vote.

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. Allred has described himself as a moderate Democrat.

On November 6, 2018, Allred was elected to the United States House of Representatives for the 32nd district of Texas. Allred's victory was considered an upset because Sessions has been in Congress since 1997 and has represented the 32nd District since 2003. 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.

Service

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

Committee assignments

Allred with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson in 2019
  • 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

  • Congressional Black Caucus
  • New Democrat Coalition

U.S. Senate campaigns

2024

Allred during a Senate campaign event in San Antonio with Mayor Ron Nirenberg in October 2024

On May 3, 2023, Allred announced his candidacy for the United States Senate in 2024, running against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz. On March 5, 2024, Allred won the primary nomination for the Democratic Party. He lost the election to Cruz in November 2024 by 8.6 points.

2026

On July 1, 2025, Allred announced his candidacy for the United States again, this time running against Republican Senator John Cornyn in the 2026 election.

On December 8, 2025 Allred announced he was ending his campaign, to instead run in Texas's 33rd congressional district, following Representative Jasmine Crockett's entry into the Democratic race.

Personal life

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

References

  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. ↑ Goodman, J. David (March 5, 2024). "Colin Allred Wins Democratic Contest to Take On Senator Ted Cruz in Texas". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Colin Allred". Tennessee Titans. Archived from the original on January 6, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Bioguide Search".
  6. 1 2 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.
  7. ↑ "2015 Perkins Coie Diversity Year In Review". Perkins Coie. January 29, 2017.
  8. 1 2 Caygle, Heather (November 24, 2018). "It's not just Ocasio-Cortez: Here are 7 freshman Democrats to watch". Politico. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ "Texas Primary Runoff Election Results". The New York Times. May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  12. ↑ Livingston, Abby (May 22, 2018). "Texas congressional Democratic runoff results: Lizzie Pannill Fletcher and Gina Ortiz Jones win". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on May 24, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ Evans, Molly (November 7, 2018). "Texas Midterm Election Results: Abbott, Cruz Win Re-Election; Allred Beats Sessions". KERA-TV. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  15. ↑ Montellaro, Zach (February 20, 2019). "Sanders sprints out of the gate in his presidential bid". Politico. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ Fink, Jack (May 3, 2023). "Rep. Colin Allred launches campaign to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz". CBS News. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  18. ↑ Goodman, J. David (March 6, 2024). "Colin Allred Wins Democratic Contest to Take On Senator Ted Cruz in Texas". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  19. ↑ "Texas U.S. Senate Election Results". The New York Times. November 5, 2024 – via NYTimes.com.
  20. ↑ Elena Schneider (July 1, 2025). "Colin Allred enters U.S. Senate Race in Texas". Politico. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  21. ↑ Crampton, Liz (December 8, 2025). "Colin Allred drops out of Texas Senate race". Politico. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  22. ↑ "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.
  23. ↑ Garcia, Eric (February 13, 2019). "Colin Allred welcomes new child". The Hill. Retrieved February 17, 2019.

Other websites