Join us for A Conversation with Colin Allred, an engaging discussion on today’s most pressing political issues and the future of leadership in America. Congressman Allred, who formerly represented Texas’s 32nd District, will share insights from his journey in public service and his campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Colin Allred was born on April 15, 1983, in Dallas, Texas, and raised by a public school teacher and single mother. A fourth‑generation Texan, he was class president at Hillcrest High School and earned a full scholarship to play football at Baylor University, where he served as team captain and was named Defensive MVP as well as First Team Academic All‑Big 12. He graduated in 2005 with a B.A. in history, then played as a linebacker for the Tennessee Titans in the NFL for four to five seasons before a neck injury led him to pivot toward higher education and public service.
After earning his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2014, Allred returned to Texas to join Battleground Texas as the DFW Regional Director of Voter Protection. He later served in the Obama administration at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He then worked as a civil rights attorney at Perkins Coie, focusing on voting rights and justice initiatives. His legal and civic experience laid the groundwork for his historic 2018 House campaign, where he unseated longtime Republican incumbent Pete Sessions to become the first Democrat to represent Texas’s 32nd Congressional District.
In Congress from 2019 to 2025, Allred earned a reputation as a pragmatic, bipartisan legislator. He served on the Committees for Foreign Affairs, Transportation & Infrastructure, and Veterans’ Affairs, championing initiatives such as new VA facilities in Garland and El Paso, major infrastructure investments, and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Allred was the first member of Congress to take paternity leave and led efforts to expand paid family leave. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2024, narrowly losing to Ted Cruz by about 8.5 points, and in July 2025 launched a second Senate campaign for 2026 targeting John Cornyn’s seat.