By Sameer Bhuchar

Former Tennessee Titans linebacker Colin Allred (D) beat incumbent Pete Sessions (R) in the congressional race for Texas’ 32nd District in North Dallas.

He beat the long-time incumbent with a 52.2 to 49.3 margin. Hilary Clinton carried this district in the 2016 presidential election.

Allred ran on a platform to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act (commonly called Obamacare), and he spoke out against the Republican tax cuts passed earlier this year.

It was no small task for Allred to take over Sessions’ seat. His campaign featured a large grassroots effort to knock on as many doors in his district as possible.

“One of the rules that I had, as somebody who had to make the team every year in the NFL, was to worry about what I can control and to block out everything else,” Allred said. “And that’s exactly how I’ve run this campaign.”

Allred was endorsed by former President Barack Obama who he worked for after his playing career ended in 2010. The NFL connection in this race was on both sides of the ticket, as one of Sessions’ biggest campaign donors was Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, along with other executive members of the Cowboys organization. Sessions served in Congress since 1997.

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Allred is a Dallas-area native. He played football at Baylor University before signing with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played professionally until 2010 before attending UC Berkeley School of Law. He has since been practicing law in North Texas.