Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Lest We Forget: Mike Allen's Past Scandal

It is very possible some people reading about Mike Allen considering running for Cincinnati City Council do not know how big of a scandal it was when he did not run again as Hamilton County Prosecutor. The Enquirer's Howard Wilkinson does do a pretty good job of recapping the torrid past, but nothing can really instill the level of disgust that everyone felt when the Republican Allen was sued for Sexual Harrassment after a multiple year extra-martial affair took place with one of his assistant prosecuting attorneys. The one issue I would point out to readers: he didn't resign from office, instead he did not seek re-election, but served our his term. That is something Wilkinson got wrong in the article.

Here is a little history from my blog and others so people can get a little sense of history and why Allen has no business running for public office:
Allen - Collins Settlement
From Nate Livingston
Enquirer 2004 Top 10 Local News Stories: Mike Allen Scandal was #1 beating out Bush's Win
Mike Allen, Esq.
Both Allen and Collins Want Tax Money
So Much For a Settlement
Local GOP Is Chicken
Collins-Allen Imbroglio
Mum's the Word From Bronson
Lisa Allen: Victim and Pawn?
Mike Allen's Political Career Is Over (Yes, I hope the title doesn't end up being ironic.)

From a pure political sense, this would be harsh news for Republicans. Allen would take votes from all of the GOP candidates and drive votes away from the GOP in general, even though he's not going to get a Republican endorsement. The local GOP made it clear with the quotes in the Wilkinson article that Mike Allen would not be getting an endorsement, both for being too late and for his past problems. Hopefully, the lack of GOP support will keep Allen from running. While I think that Allen running might help some Dems, it will suck the attention from the political landscape into a scandal ridden race that we don't need. That might drive up hits for my blog, but it will not drive up voter turnout.

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