Colin Allred

**Colin Zachary Allred** (born April 15, 1983) is an American politician and civil rights attorney. He used to be a professional football player. He is a Democrat. He was the U.S. Representative for  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 is running for the U.S. Senate again in 2026 against incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn.

## 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 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

- 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

### 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 incumbent John Cornyn in the 2026 election.

## Personal life

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

## Other websites

- Congressman Colin Allred  official U.S. House website
- Colin Allred for Congress
- Tennessee Titans bio
- Baylor Bears football bio

## Infobox (nfl biography)

- **embed**: yes
- **number**: 56
- **position**: Linebacker
- **height ft**: 6
- **height in**: 1
- **weight lbs**: 242
- **high school**: Hillcrest High School (Dallas), Hillcrest (Dallas, Texas)
- **college**: Baylor Bears football, Baylor
- **undraftedyear**: 2006
- **pastteams**: * Tennessee Titans (–)
- **statlabel1**: Tackle (football move), Total tackles
- **statvalue1**: 46
- **pfr**: AllrCo99


## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: Colin Allred
- **image**: Colin Allred, official portrait, 117th Congress.jpg
- **caption**: Official portrait, 2022
- **state**: Texas
- **term start**: January 3, 2019
- **term end**: January 3, 2025
- **predecessor**: Pete Sessions
- **successor**: Julie Johnson (politician), Julie Johnson
- **birth name**: Colin Zachary Allred
- **birth place**: Dallas, Texas, U.S.
- **party**: Democratic Party (United States), Democratic
- **children**: 2
- **education**: Baylor University (Bachelor of Arts, BA)
University of California, Berkeley (Juris Doctor, JD)