In both 2016, 2017, 2018, as well as 2019, that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” presented profiles of the sitting U.S. House Representative from Georgia’s 12th Congressional District, Rick Allen, who after being elected for the first time in the 2014 elections, quickly made himself infamous in Washington for an outburst he made that pissed off even his fellow Republicans back in May of this year, when a week after Democrats cried foul after Republicans flipped their votes in support of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have prevented government contractors from discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, a second version passed with 43 Republicans actually supporting the idea. In the wake of that vote, Speaker Paul Ryan tried to gather many members of the GOP House, where Rick Allen pulled out his Bible, and read Scripture to those present, specifically passages from Romans 1:18-32, and Revelations 22:18-19, that in effect read that gays are sinners “worthy of death”. At that point, several of his colleagues stormed out, disgusted (and they should be).
Well, Rick Allen went viral because after the tragic shooting in Orlando just days later, as some were calling for some action, ANY action on gun control, the GOP offered their usual support to victims… their thoughts and prayers. In this instance, that came off as a lot of hollow bulls*** in particular because Rick Allen was one such person who got on social media to let those mourning know he was thinking and praying about it. To which, some of the victims had to wonder, “So what, are you praying that more of us die, then?” Allen was asked if he regretted or wanted to apologize for his remarks about the gays being “worthy of death”, and surprise… he didn’t regret them at all and stood by his decision to read them at that Republican meeting.
So it should come as little surprise that Rep. Allen spent his first term in office voting for anti-choice legislation without exceptions for rape and incest, attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and the bill to attempt to halt the resettling of Syrian refugees in the United States. But when you come from a conservative district in Georgia, the voters won’t pay attention to any of that or sweat that or the fact that you quoted Bible verses about gays being worthy of death, and they’ll re-elect you with 59% of the vote. His third term in office, is already starting to look like the first two:
- January 22nd, 2019: Allen votes against HR 676, which would prevent Donald Trump from doing the unthinkable and walking away from our allies in NATO to appease the Russians.
- January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Allen voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
- January 27th, 2019: Rick Allen voted against HJR 30, which was meant to express disapproval of Donald Trump not acting against Russian Federation for attacking our democracy. You see, he’s fine with our nation being sublet to Vladimir Putin.
- February 28th, 2019: Rick Allen votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
- March 14th, 2019: Rep. Allen votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
- April 4th, 2019: Rick Allen is one of 158 Republicans who choose to vote against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
- June 4th, 2019: Allen votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
- July 16th, 2019: Rick Allen votes against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.
- October 17th, 2019: Rep. Allen is one of 60 Republicans who vote against HJ Res 77, which opposed Donald Trump’s disastrous decision to abandon Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria to the mercies of a Turkish invasion.
- December 3rd, 2019: Rick Allen is one of 71 Republicans who votes against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
- December 18th, 2019: Rep. Allen ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the impeachment of Donald Trump.
So the question remains in November, will Rick Allen hold onto his seat in Georgia’s 12th, a district that leans +9 Republican? Well, Georgia is hardly a state with a pleasant status quo. It’s been hit terribly hard by Covid-19, and even past the casualties Georgia and Florida are the top two increases in states with jobless claims due to coronavirus.
They’re also seeing some of the biggest civil rights protests due to police violence against African Americans right now. So a +9 might not be safe enough as he faces off against Liz Johnson, a retired insurance representative who has been campaigning since October. Generic Democratic candidates have about a +9 advantage again in 2020, like they did in 2018, and we’re hoping Johnson can flip this district and sent this homophobic twit packing.
One Year Ago, June 29th, 2019: Rick Allen (GA)… 2019 Update
Two Years Ago, June 29th, 2018: Rick Allen (GA)… 2018 Update
Three Years Ago, June 29th, 2017: Rick Allen (GA)… 2017 Update
Four Year Ago, June 29th, 2016: Rick Allen (GA)… Original Profile
Five Years Ago, June 29th, 2015: Charlotte O’Hara (KS)