Biglaw

5 Biglaw Attorneys Riding The Blue Wave To Congress

Meet the Biglaw attorneys that helped flip the House of Representatives.

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The day after the midterm elections and the results are enough of a mishmash for both Democrats and Republicans to claim victory (and defeat). But one unambiguous result of the election was Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives by an impressive margin that included taking 24 seats from GOP incumbents. On that list of Democratic upstarts that rode a blue wave to new jobs in the House are 5 Biglaw attorneys that have impressive legal credential that may just ease their transition into public service.

Colin Allred

Colin Allred Meet the Congressman-elect for Texas’s 32nd congressional district. His legal bona fides are impressive — he graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law, and was a research assistant for professor and author Ian Haney Lopez, worked in the Office of White House Counsel under Kathy Ruemmler, was an Obama appointee in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and an associate at Perkins Coie. Oh, and he was an NFL linebacker for five years before an injury put him on the path to law school.  He believes the government is in need of changes, and that’s what motivated him to run for Congress saying, “We need a new generation of leadership to come forward that seeks public office as a form of public service. I am running for Congress now to return this seat to the people I grew up with and who have for too long been forgotten by its Representative and a Congress that has lost its way.”

Jason Crow

Jason Crow Holland & Hart partner Jason Crow won one of the most expensive elections of the midterms, taking out Representative Mike Coffman in Colorado’s Sixth congressional district. A graduate of the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, being a lawyer wasn’t Crow’s first career. He was a Ranger and Infantry officer in the Army and led combat units during three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. In his victory speech, Crow noted, “We set out with a goal to bring new leadership to the country and move us forward again. It was a bold idea for someone who had never run for office before. Today, we achieved it.”

Sharice Davids

Sharice Davids This is a name liberals looking for feel-good news amongst the election results have likely come across already. Davids is the first openly LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Kansas, as well as one of the first two Native American women (along with Deb Haaland of New Mexico) elected last night to the House. But before her history-making political run, Davids graduated from Cornell Law School and began her legal career at Biglaw megafirm Dentons. Former Houston Mayor and current president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, Annise Parker, said in a statement, “Sharice won the hearts of voters by putting forward a positive and solutions-oriented agenda while explaining how her experiences as a Native American LGBTQ woman influenced her policy positions and beliefs. Sharice’s victory tonight will become a model for other LGBTQ leaders considering a run for office in red states or districts.”

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Antonio Delgado

Antonio Delgado This Harvard Law alum and Rhodes scholar was working at Akin Gump when the shocking result of the 2016 election forced him to reconsider his career, “When Trump happened, I’m 40, partnership was coming up next year, there’s a lot on my mind and obviously felt extremely unsettled by what happened with his election. I felt very disturbed by the outcome and I just felt at that point, the first thought was…. figure out what more I could do, whether it was politics or some other endeavor… And it became clear to me that there was an opportunity for me to to be a part of some real significant change both here locally, right at home, by unseating a very vulnerable, freshman Republican congressman.” He’s also a former rapper, which became something his opponent made an issue in a series of racially charged campaign ads, but that wasn’t enough for John Faso to keep his seat as Representative for New York’s 19th Congressional District.

Mary Gay Scanlon

Mary Gay Scanlon This pro bono counsel at Ballard Spahr is actually a bit of an overachiever — winning two congressional races yesterday — she will be the Congressperson for Pennsylvania’s newly redrawn Fifth District and she won the special election to complete the term of former Representative Patrick Meehan in the Seventh District. Scanlon has her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and worked for the Education Law Center of Philadelphia before joining the Biglaw firm. According to her co-worker, Ballard Spahr Special Counsel and former Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell, Scanlon’s unique skills will be put to good use in Congress, “When Mary Gay sees a problem, she investigates the facts and finds a solution. She understands how to collaborate but also how to fight—fearlessly and hard—for what is right. We’ll miss her terribly at the firm, but she the right person to send to Washington and we’re incredibly proud of what she has achieved.”

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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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