On April 21, 2017, Allred said he would challenge the current Representative from his district, Republican Pete Sessions, in the 2018 election. Allred one 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.
Allred was elected in November 2018 as co-president of the 116th Congressional Freshman Class. The other president was Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan.
Allred married Alexandra Eber on March 25, 2017. Their son, Jordan, was born on February 12, 2019.
Nanette Barragán
Nanette Diaz Barragán (; born September 15, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. Representative for California's 44th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she used to be a Hermosa Beach City Councillor from 2013 to 2015.
Barragán was born in Harbor City, Los Angeles; she grew up the youngest of eleven siblings, raised by immigrants from Mexico in Torrance and the surrounding area, where she attended North Torrance High School and played softball. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2000 and her Juris Doctor at the University of Southern California in 2005. There, where she was part of the "Interdisciplinary Law Journal".
During college and until 2003, Barragán worked as the Executive Director of the Gillian S. Fuller Foundation (formerly the Fuller Foundation); she was in charge of giving money to worthy nonprofits focused on education, the environment, and youth programs. Funded organizations included Heal the Bay, the Nature Conservancy, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Para Los Niños, Proyecto Pastoral, and Literacy Partners.
In 2003, Barragán was as an extern to Justice Carlos Moreno at the California Supreme Court. In 2004, she worked as an extern at the Los Angeles Legal Aid Foundation, a law firm for low-income people in Los Angeles. There she helped "pro per" workers who needed help filing claims for unpaid overtime and meal breaks.
In 2005, Barragán got an externship at the United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California where she worked with lawyers in the Organized Crime and Terrorism section. While there Barragán helped on a money laundering trial team, in investigations, and in prosecuting Central Violations Bureau cases.
Barragán then joined Latham & Watkins LLP, where she worked on cases from land use to securities. While at Latham, Barragán was the lead lawyer in an immigration asylum case for a mother and child from Guatemala that took three years. After Hurricane Katrina, Barragán and her colleague Blake Megdal flew to Biloxi, Mississippi to provide pro bono help to victims of the hurricane withinsurance claims. She also served as a child advocate and was the Spanish-speaking adoption lawyer for low income families seeking adoptions.
Barragán started her political work with the Clinton White House in the Office of Public Liaison. She was doing African American outreach, and helped the President with African American groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1999, Barragán worked with the NAACP's Washington Bureau. Afterwards, she volunteered for many federal and local candidates while on the Board of the L.A. County Young Democrats for three years prior to attending law school.
In 2012, Barragán took a break from her law firm to move to Florida to work on President Barack Obama's campaign with the voter protection team. She worked as the out-of-state volunteer lawyer director and recruited other lawyers across the country to volunteer in Florida to make sure every eligible voter had the chance to vote.
In 2013, after working in Florida for Obama, Barragán ran for Hermosa Beach City Council, fighting an oil company's proposal to drill 34 oil and water injection wells in Hermosa Beach and into the Santa Monica Bay. Barragán beat six candidates and was the top vote-getter. She became the first Latina ever elected and the first woman in ten years.
She resigned from office on July 31, 2015 to run for Congress in the state's 44th district.
Barragán announced her candidacy for California's 44th congressional district on Equal Pay Day in mid-April 2015. The seat was held by Democrat Janice Hahn, who decided to run for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 2016.
In June 2015, a local newspaper said that her reason for running was that "The district is one where only 60 percent graduate from high school and 10 percent go on to college. That's how people live. I'm one of those 10-percenters who beat the odds. (…) I've achieved the American dream. Now I’m coming home to make sure others have the same shot at the dream."
After announcing her candidacy, Barragán received major endorsements, including EMILY's List， National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC)， the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV)， the Latino Victory Project， South Gate Mayor Henry Gonzalez (ret.), South Gate Council members Bill De Witt, Maria Davila and Belen Bernal， Carson Commissioner Janice Schaffer, and many of congressional members including Rep. Linda Sanchez, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Eric Swalwell, Raul Ruiz, Ruben Gallego, Joaquin Castro, and Lois Frankel.
In the November 8 general election, Barragán beat state senator Isadore Hall III to replace Hahn.
Karen Bass
Karen Ruth Bass (born October 3, 1953) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for California's 37th congressional district since 2013. A Democrat, she previously represented the 33rd congressional district from 2011 to 2013.
Bass represented the 47th district in the California State Assembly from 2004 to 2010. She served as the 67th Speaker of the California Assembly (2008–2010), and was the second woman and the third African American to be Speaker. Since 2019, Bass has also served as the chair of the Black Congressional Caucus.
Bass was a possible candidate to become Joe Biden's vice-presidential running mate in the 2020 election.
Bass was born in Los Angeles, California. Her parents were Wilhelmina (née Duckett) and DeWitt Talmadge Bass. Her father was a letter carrier. She was raised in the Venice/Fairfax neighborhood and went to Hamilton High School. She studied philosophy at San Diego State University (1971–1973). Then, she got a B.S. in health sciences from California State University, Dominguez Hills (1990).
Bass worked as a physician assistant and as a clinical instructor at the USC Keck School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program. Bass also founded Community Coalition, an organization in South Los Angeles. Later on, in 2015, Bass earned a Master's degree in social work from the University of Southern California (USC).