Colin Allred wins Democratic nomination, will face Pete Sessions in fall

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Colin Allred will be the Democratic candidate to take on longtime incumbent GOP U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions this fall.

Allred won the primary runoff contest for District 32 on Tuesday, defeating Lillian Salerno by nearly 40 points. Allred emerges as the Democratic nominee after surviving a field of seven candidates.

The Allred-Sessions race will be one of the most watched congressional races in the nation. Sessions has been the representative for years, but Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in the district in 2016. That got the attention of local and national Democrats, who vowed to field a competitive candidate and challenge the longtime incumbent.

Allred is a part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s "Red to Blue" program, which gives money, assistance and access to resources to candidates across the country congressional Democrats believe can win seats currently held by Republicans.

The runoff between Allred and Salerno was largely cordial, with each candidate working to convince voters they were the best option to defeat Sessions. Allred led in the March primary with 38 percent of the vote, while Salerno got in the runoff by finishing second with 18 percent.

Allred was raised in Dallas and attended DISD’s Hillcrest High School before playing football at Baylor and in the NFL. After his playing career he before became a lawyer and worked in the Obama administration.

Sessions is chairman of the House Rules Committee and has been in congress since 1997. Sessions didn’t face a Democratic opponent in 2016.