Check out the website: https://lenspoliticalnotes.com Look at the recent Political Notes and Len’s Letters on the website.
NORTHEAST: Political Note #363 Tom Malinowski NJ 07, Political Note #394 Susan Wild PA 07, Political Note #397 Eugene DePasquale PA 10
SOUTHEAST: Political Note #385 Carolyn Bordeaux, Political Note #388 Elaine Luria VA 02
MIDWEST: Political Note # 398 David Palmer IL 13, Political Note #376 Lauren Underwood IL 14, Political Note #398 David Palmer IL 13, Political Note #378 Elissa Slotkin MI 08, Political Note #357 Haley Stevens MI 11, Political Note #355 Angie Craig MN 02
SOUTHWEST: Political Note #389 Tom O’Halleran AZ 01, Political Note #375 Steven Horsford NV 04, Political Note #356 Susie Lee NV 03, Political Note #377 Lizzie Fletcher TX 07, Political Note #362 Vicente Gonzalez TX 15, Political Note #399 Colin Allred TX 32
WEST: Political Note #383 Harley Rouda CA 48, Political Note #384 Peter DeFazio OR 04.
SPECIAL ELECTIONS: Political Note #364 Jana Lynne Sanchez TX 06 (lost), Political Note #382 Melanie Stansbury NM 01 (won), Political Note #393 Allison Russo OH 15 (Election is in November)
July 20, 2021 Political Note #399 Colin Allred TX 32
2022 General Election
Is Colin Allred https://www.colinallred.com larger than life? At 6’1” and weighing 240 pounds, he played football at Baylor and for the Tennessee Titans in the NFL. He’s large from my perspective.
Did he throw his weight around in Congress? He and Republican Anthony Gonzalez, 6’0” and 193 pounds, a former slot receiver and the only other ex-NFL player in Congress, might talk a little trash.
January 6 was different. Initially, Colin Allred took his coat off and prepared to defend himself and others – even without weapons. Instead, he followed the capitol police to safety.
He did eventually throw his weight around a little. Sixty-three year old former Navy doctor and Maryland Republican Congressman Andy Harris was gearing himself up for a fight with Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman Conor Lamb. Harris was hollering at Lamb, angry at being called a liar. That Lamb’s remark was accurate wasn’t so much the point.
The 37-year Lamb a former Marine attorney would not have been a good target for Harris. Somehow, 72-year old Florida Democratic Congressman Al Lawson Jr. became Harris’s target instead. A few years ago, Lawson was athletic enough and big enough at 6’7” to have had a brief career with the Indiana Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. He wasn’t a good target either.
Colin Allred intervened. You can hear him on C-Span getting between Harris and Lawson, asking Harris “Are you serious? Haven’t you had enough violence today?” The person who really threw her weight around was Nancy Pelosi. You can also hear Nancy Pelosi saying “The gentlemen will clear the chamber.” Colin Allred went back to his seat. There was nothing more he needed to do.
Nancy Pelosi is a giant among Members of congress. Colin Allred is pretty impressive, though. He is on the side of the Speaker. He is well-regarded among his colleagues. Along with Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens, he was co-president of the 2018 Democratic Freshman class. He retains that high regard.
Colin Allred represents the northern and northeastern suburbs of Dallas. The district, at least in its current form, doesn’t go as far north as Plano, but includes Garland and continues east to Lake Ray Hubbard. The district is a purple district. Colin Allred ousted a Republican, Pete Sessions, who now represents a district which is far enough south of Dallas so that it is closer to San Antonio and Houston than it is to Dallas. Colin Allred’s district is diverse. It is 49% white, 27% Hispanic, 13% Black, and 9% Asian.
Colin Allred is a member of the New Democratic Coalition, the largest affinity group among Democrats – progressive on social issues, moderate on fiscal ones. The other group he belongs to is the Black Congressional Caucus. It has 57 members. Two are Senators. Two can vote in committees, but not on actual Congressional votes – because neither the District of Columbia nor the Virgin Islands are Constitutional members. Fifth-three out of a group of 435 Members of Congress means that the Black Congressional Caucus includes 12% of the House of Representatives.
Colin Allred is on three Congressional Committees – the Committee on Foreign Affairs (including the subcommittee that deals with terrorism), the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (an important committee at the moment, including his three subcommittees – Aviation, Highways and Transit, and Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials). He is also on the Veterans’ Affairs committee.
In the 2020 campaign, when the Black Economic Alliance described Colin Allred’s accomplishments, it focused on health care and working across the aisle: “From lowering prescription drug prices to securing the Garland VA Medical Center, Colin has been a leader in working across the aisle to bring real results to North Texas. He led the charge in the House to fight back against the cynical, partisan lawsuit that would repeal the Affordable Care Act and with it, protections for folks with pre-existing conditions. He knows that we won’t bring progress to our community with partisan politics, which is why 70% of the bills he’s cosponsored are bipartisan.”
Now he is focused on voting rights. On the federal level, where Colin Allred works, he says “the Voting Rights Act will give them a shield to defend themselves. Ultimately what we’re trying to do here is just make sure that our democracy still exists.” On the state level, where Colin Allred lives, he says about the proposed Texas voting law “you can get beer at 10am on a Sunday, but you can’t go vote after church… because they’re afraid of Souls at the Polls.”
Help Colin Allred https://www.colinallred.com stay in Congress, protect health care and protect our democracy. He can’t do that without resources. In 2018, he raised $5.8 Million — $800,000 more than his complacent opponent. In 2020, he raised $5.7Million – a little less than his opponent. We don’t know who he’ll be running against in 2022. He just might need to get past the $6Million mark. Help him start early to do that.
So far, we haven’t looked at many Democrats challenging for Republican seats. I am reluctant to urge you to donate money to a candidate while there is a likelihood of a competitive Democratic primary and we are a long way from the 2022 primaries.
Candidates to flip Republican Seats
California 48 Harley Rouda https://harleyforcongress.com
Illinois 13 David Palmer. https://palmerforillinois.com
Ohio 15 Allison Russo https://allisonrusso.co (Special election November, 2021.)
Pennsylvania 10 Eugene DePasquale https://eugeneforcongress.com
These are vulnerable incumbent Democratic Members of Congress. If you want to play some defense, choose a few of them to support. If you want to learn about them, look at my Notes about them in the website.
Members of Congress who won with less than 52% of the vote
Georgia 07 Carolyn Bordeaux https://www.carolyn4congress.com Received 51.39% of the vote in 2020
Iowa 03 Cynthia Axne https://cindyaxneforcongress.com Received 48.9% of the vote in 2020
Illinois 14 Lauren Underwood https://underwoodforcongress.com Received 50.67% of the vote in 2020
Michigan 08 Elissa Slotkin https://elissaforcongress.com Received 50.88% of the vote in 2020
Michigan 11 Haley Stevens https://haleystevensforcongress.com Received 50.2% of the vote in 2020
Minnesota 02 Angie Craig https://angiecraig.com Received 48.21% of the vote in 2020
Nevada 03 Susie Lee https://www.susieleeforcongress.com Received 48.75% of the vote in 2020
Nevada 04 Steve Horsford https://www.stevenhorsford.com Received 50.67% of the vote in 2020
New Mexico 01 Tom O’Halloran https://www.tomohalleran.com Received 51.61% of the vote in 2020
New Jersey 07 Tom Malinowski https://malinowskifornj.com Received 50.61% of the vote in 2020
Oregon 04 Peter DeFazio https://www.defazioforcongress.org Received 51.26% of the vote in 2020
Texas 07 Lizzie Fletcher https://www.lizziefletcher.com Received 50.79% of the vote in 2020
Texas 15 Vicente Gonzalez http://www.vicentegonzalez.com Received 50.5% of the vote in 2020
Texas 32 Colin Allred https://www.colinallred.com Received 51.95% of the vote in 2020
Virginia 02 Elaine Luria https://elaineforcongress.com Received 51.6% of the vote in 2020
Washington 08 Kim Schrier https://www.drkimschrier.com Received 51.79% of the vote in 2020
Organizations to support
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) https://dccc.org
The Democratic National Committee (DNC). https://democrats.org The official organization of the Democratic Party.
Fair Fight https://fairfight.com Promotes fair elections around the country
Three Cautions while donating through Act Blue (most Democratic candidates use Act Blue for online donations)
- Take care to hit the donate button only once. If you hit it a second time, you could be charged for two donations instead of one.
- Take care to watch for an already clicked recurring donation. You can unclick it and donate only once if that is your intent.
- Watch for your receipt. If the receipt indicates a donation different from your intention, reply to Act Blue via the receipt right away. They will fix your donation. They want you to donate only what you intend to donate.
Support Democrats. Sadly, Republicans have become enemies of democracy.
