The Race for Story by Reese Greenlee // Design by Lauren Leyrer
District
32
Meet two candidates running for U.S. House seat including Park Cities
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wo candidates are campaigning to win TX-32, the U.S. House of Representatives congressional district that includes the Park Cities. The Democratic leader in this race is the incumbent Rep. Colin Allred, a former NFL player and a current civil rights attorney. Republican Genevieve Collins is a businesswoman and Southern Methodist University graduate who seeks to unseat him this November. Allred worked as an assistant in the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Obama Administration. In 2018, he ran for his first public office position, beating Pete Sessions for the position he currently holds. Allred took inspiration from those close to him to propel his career dreams. “I spent my evenings, summers and school breaks at great YMCA camps and was helped by so many unsung heroes who went above and beyond the call of duty to give a kid who didn’t know his father a chance to chase his version of the American Dream,” he said. He also said that support gave him the platform he needed to play in the NFL, to become a civil rights attorney, and to serve in Congress.
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Being a congressman has allowed Allred to see flaws in the government, and there are specific areas he wants to improve. “The current spread of COVID-19 has highlighted how our system fails so many -- from young people preparing to go off to college and facing the rising cost of higher education, to access to affordable health care, to how inequities disproportionately affect communities of color,” he said.
“We need real leadership that focuses on uniting us as a nation, not dividing us.” Although Allred is proud of the House for improving healthcare costs, he says in his next term, he hopes to pass legislation into law that will lower health care and prescription drug costs for all Americans. The coronavirus caused many politicians,
as well as citizens, to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the healthcare system. As a result of this, Allred is adamant about passing a coronavirus relief bill. “We must pass a COVID relief bill that has a national strategy to ramp up testing and contain this virus, as well as get North Texans, schools, local governments and small businesses the economic relief and help that they need,” he said. Allred also feels passionate about alleviating the current social unrest. “We need real leadership that focuses on uniting us as a nation, not dividing us. We should all remember that there is never a reason for violence,” he said. He said he believes the federal government plays a crucial role in maintaining tranquility, and the federal government should always work to ensure justice is done, which includes guaranteeing the basic rights of individuals are not violated. Additionally, he believes all law enforcement must work to de escalate tensions with protestors. As a result of the protests, a large debate has prospered about whether or not the police should be defunded. “I do not support defunding the police,” Allred said. “But I do believe we need to make more investments in those areas to
