Lenny McAllister  Leonard Francis McAllister Jr. (born January 13, 1972) is an American political commentator for a number of newspapers and websites, including RedState, AOL, and The Root. He was the 2016 Republican Candidate for US Congress in after winning the primary by way of write-in votes, tripling the requirement for the nomination. From 2008 through 2017, his media platform including hosting shows on the Pittsburgh Cable News Channel and KDKA (AM) in Pittsburgh and WVON in Chicago as well as appearing regularly on CNN, HLN, Al Jazeera America, Radio New Zealand, and other outlets. As an African-that is part of the Black Conservatism movement, he is often attributed to positions that mirror some civil rights activists including his positions on ending stop and frisk practices on African-Americans as a violation of the Constitution. McAllister was born Leonard Francis McAllister, Jr. on January 13, 1972 in Pittsburgh to parents Leonard, Sr. and Carol McAllister. Both he and his mother almost died during childbirth. McAllister grew up in the Penn Hills, a suburb outside Pittsburgh. His father was a computer technician and an electrician for a local steel mill, and his mother ran a daycare out of the family home before her death in 2006. McAllister attended middle school at St. Bart's School, playing football and basketball. Always undersized, McAllister quarterbacked the school's 14-and-under football team to a championship as an 11-year-old. He then attended Central Catholic High School for a few years before leaving to take a scholarship to Shady Side Academy. He graduated from Shady Side in 1989, earning scholarship offers to several universities. In 1989, McAllister enrolled at Davidson College, on "the 13-year path to a four-year degree". He was slated to walk-on the Davidson basketball team as a freshman but declined after coach Bobby Hussey left Davidson after the 1988–1989 school year. He was a pitcher on the baseball team. He left school in 1992 for a sabbatical that lasted a decade. Before leaving that spring, he contributed a piece on Black History Month to the school paper "The Davidsonian", receiving numerous anonymous threats, including isolated death threats. McAllister dropped out of college for a decade and became a father at age 21 with the first of his two children. In 2000, McAllister re-enrolled at Davidson College, graduating with a history degree in 2002. In 2005, McAllister ran for office in Davidson, North Carolina, losing as the only Republican against an all-Democrat slate by only 56 votes.