U.S. Rep. Colin Allred urged Iowa Democrats to hold onto hope and focus on their party's accomplishments as the party prepares for a crucial midterm election this November, two years into President Joe Biden's term.
Allred, a former NFL linebacker and civil rights attorney who represents a Dallas-area swing district of Texas in Congress, headlined the Iowa Democratic Party's annual Liberty and Justice Celebration Saturday night in Des Moines.
"The cynics are saying that this may be a tough year for us," Allred said, referring to national predictions that Republicans will retake the U.S. House and perhaps the Senate in November's midterm elections "We’ve overcome longer odds than this before. We can’t lose hope."
Allred said there are a few similarities to being a linebacker in the NFL and serving in Congress, like the ability to take a hit.
"I have to admit that until Jan. 6 I never thought that serving in Congress would be the more violent of the two jobs," he said.
The Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol "is a reminder of how close we came to losing our democracy," Allred said. Now, he said, Democrats have an opportunity to win over former Republicans who don't agree with former President Donald Trump's false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
"When they look at this version of the Republican Party they don’t see their values reflected, so they’re free agents looking for a political home," he said. "We need these people, too, who we may not agree with...
A video shows the Green Party celebrating an election win in a foreign language. False. This video was posted before the election. It is a Bengali language campaign video posted by the Green Party ...