Let's talk, Texas.Hey y’all — Colin Allred here. I’m glad you found your way to my corner of Substack.
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I’m starting this Substack because it’s getting harder and harder to cut through the noise and speak directly with people who care about the future of our state. Even folks who want to hear from you can get lost in the algorithm shuffle. Here, there’s no filter — just us. This will be a space where I share:
If you know a friend who’d want in, send them this link. The more voices we have here, the stronger we’ll be. Why I’m fired up right now!I wish I could kick this off with a lighthearted story from the trail — but what’s happening in Texas is too urgent to wait.
Right now, Republicans in our state legislature are trying to ram through some of the most brazen gerrymandering I’ve ever seen in my career. They’re redrawing five Democratic-held congressional districts to make them easier to win for extreme politicians who will do exactly what their bosses in D.C. want:
And let’s be clear: This isn’t just dirty politics — it’s a direct violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Some of the districts they’re targeting were created to give long-overdue representation to communities who had never had a voice before. In these new maps, those communities get carved up and silenced. My own district — the one I grew up in and was honored to represent in Congress — is one of them. It’s a majority-minority district. In the new GOP maps, it’s gone. Millions more people across our state will lose the representative they count on to fight for them. Gerrymandering divides our communities, denies representation, and produces more extreme representatives, which is the exact opposite of what most Americans want. I’ve seen a lot. This is different.I’ve spent over a decade as a voting rights attorney. I’ve been in the courtroom; I’ve been in the trenches. And I can tell you: I’ve never seen politicians be this shameless about stealing seats. I went down to Austin to testify against these maps. It wasn’t a real hearing. The decision had already been made. Texans from all over the state, thousands of us, told them they didn’t want this — and they moved the maps forward anyway.
When they did, Texas House Democrats took the only option left: breaking quorum and leaving the state to stop the vote. They knew it would open them up to attacks, to legal threats, and even to arrest. They did it anyway, because protecting Texans’ voices was worth the risk. That’s courage. And they deserve our support. If you’d like to join me in showing your support for them, you can do so by making a donation here. What we can do.This fight isn’t over. We have to make sure every Texan knows what’s going on — and then we have to beat them in the courts and at the ballot box. I’ll be using this space to keep you posted on:
If you believe all Texans, and all Americans, deserve fair maps and leaders who will fight for them — not rig the system against them — share this Substack with a friend or two who might be interested in joining the conversation. And if you’re able, chip in to my campaign so we can keep up the fight. At the end of the day, this is about way more than just politics. It’s an attempt to steal seats, silence voters, and dismantle our democracy. We can’t let them get away with it. I, for one, am fired up to keep fighting back with everything I have. I hope you are, too. Thanks for reading my first post here. We’ve got a lot to talk about in the months ahead, and I’m grateful to have you with me. Let’s get to work. — Colin Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
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