Colin Allred was running late, but it didn’t matter—nobody was waiting for him. Only staff and a single journalist occupied the cavernous International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union Hall in Houston at 2:30 on a recent Tuesday afternoon, the time Allred’s campaign had provided for what it was touting as a “roundtable on Texas energy jobs.” Three conference tables were arranged in a U shape beneath the IBEW Local 716 flag, but neither the congressman nor the roundtable participants had shown up. Journalists had been informed of the event just the previous day; the invitation did not extend to the public.Nearly half an hour passed before the nine invited union representatives—mostly electrical workers and city bus drivers—finally shuffled into the hall and took their seats…