Wes Allen
2023 - Present
2027
1
Wes Allen (Republican Party) is the Alabama Secretary of State. He assumed office on January 16, 2023. His current term ends on January 18, 2027.
Allen (Republican Party) ran for election for Alabama Secretary of State. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Allen was a judge of the Pike County Probate Court in Alabama.[1] Governor Bob Riley (R) appointed Allen on April 2, 2009, to serve the unexpired term of retired Judge William Stone.[2]
Biography
Allen earned an undergraduate degree in 1998 from the University of Alabama and a graduate degree from Troy University in 2001. His career experience includes working as a probate judge with Pike County.[3]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2022
See also: Alabama Secretary of State election, 2022
General election
General election for Alabama Secretary of State
Wes Allen defeated Pamela Laffitte and Matt Shelby in the general election for Alabama Secretary of State on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Wes Allen (R) | 65.9 | 925,267 |
 | Pamela Laffitte (D) | 31.1 | 436,862 | |
 | Matt Shelby (L) | 3.0 | 41,611 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 663 | ||
| Total votes: 1,404,403 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Alabama Secretary of State
Wes Allen defeated Jim Zeigler in the Republican primary runoff for Alabama Secretary of State on June 21, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Wes Allen | 65.4 | 248,132 |
 | Jim Zeigler | 34.6 | 131,413 | |
| Total votes: 379,545 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Pamela Laffitte advanced from the Democratic primary for Alabama Secretary of State.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Alabama Secretary of State
Jim Zeigler and Wes Allen advanced to a runoff. They defeated Christian Horn and Ed Packard in the Republican primary for Alabama Secretary of State on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Zeigler | 42.7 | 237,482 |
| ✔ | | Wes Allen | 39.7 | 220,880 |
 | Christian Horn | 9.8 | 54,572 | |
 | Ed Packard | 7.8 | 43,486 | |
| Total votes: 556,420 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Laura Clark (R)
2018
General election
General election for Alabama House of Representatives District 89
Wes Allen defeated Joel Lee Williams in the general election for Alabama House of Representatives District 89 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Wes Allen (R) | 59.3 | 7,804 |
 | Joel Lee Williams (D) | 40.6 | 5,348 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 12 | ||
| Total votes: 13,164 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 89
Joel Lee Williams advanced from the Democratic primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 89 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Joel Lee Williams |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 89
Wes Allen defeated Marcus Paramore in the Republican primary for Alabama House of Representatives District 89 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Wes Allen | 67.7 | 4,282 |
 | Marcus Paramore | 32.3 | 2,040 | |
| Total votes: 6,322 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Wes Allen did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Allen's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Elections Alabama was recently recognized as having the most secure elections in the country and we must keep it that way. We can not allow mail-in voting, no excuse absentee ballots, early voting and other schemes that we have seen cause chaos and confusion in other states. The Alabama Secretary of State in the senior official in charge of the administration of our elections. As the Probate Judge of Pike County for nearly a decade, I ran 18 elections and all were free of error, chaos or confusion. I will take that experience to the Office of Secretary of State to ensure that our elections are safe and secure. I will work closely with the Probate Judges, Sheriffs, Circuit Clerks, and members of the Boards of Registrars to guarantee that each of them have everything they need to make sure that every election is run free of error and that only those US citizens who are legally able to vote are allowed to cast ballots in our elections. Curbside Voting As a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, I was proud to sponsor the bill that bans curbside voting in Alabama. Governor Ivey has now signed my bill into law which means that curbside voting is officially illegal in any election held in our state. This legislation was critical to maintaining the security of the chain of custody of ballots and to help protect the fabric of our democracy. No Excuse Absentee Voting I am absolutely and unapologetically opposed to no-excuse absentee voting. Our absentee voting process in Alabama works well and changing it to allow for the addition of no-excuse absentee voting will create a myriad of potential problems including:
Early Voting Early voting is a problematic, expensive and unnecessary system to put into place in Alabama. If you have legitimate reason for not being able to vote on Election Day, our absentee voting system that we already have in place is available for you to cast you ballot. Adding early voting will add a layer of potential fraud to our elections that is expensive and places an undue and unmanageable burden on our election system. Alabama has secure elections and I will not support adding the chaos and confusion that comes with early voting. Mass Mailed Ballots The idea that we should mass mail blank election ballots to mailboxes all over the state is absolutely absurd. I will always oppose any proposal that would interfere with the integrity of the chain of custody of ballots. Voter ID Every voter should present a valid photo ID in order to vote. In Alabama, you can obtain a photo ID card free of charge for the purpose of voting. If you are unable to physically go to a courthouse or other location offering photo IDs, the Secretary of State’s office will send someone to your home to take your photo and create an ID and this service is free of charge. Life Life begins at conception and every life is precious. I am, and have always been, pro-life and I believe that abortion is murder. 2nd Amendment I am a gun owner and the 2nd Amendment protects my right to own guns. The Constitution protects the American people’s right to keep and bear arms and I will never support giving up any of my Constitutional rights for any reason. Restrictive gun laws do not work as they only harm the ability of law abiding citizens to protect themselves. As we have seen in places like Chicago, which have some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country, these attempt to limit the ability of citizens to protect themselves against criminals who want to harm them only results in high murder rates and spiraling crime problems.[4] |
” |
| —Wes Allen's campaign website (2022)[5] | ||
Committee assignments
2021-2022
Allen was assigned to the following committees:
- Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee, Vice Chair
- Urban and Rural Development Committee
- House Judiciary Committee
2019-2020
Allen was assigned to the following committees:
- Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Committee
- House Judiciary Committee
- Urban and Rural Development Committee
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Alabama scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2022
In 2022, the Alabama State Legislature was in session from January 11 to April 7.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on the association's policy platform.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to small business issues.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Alabama State Legislature was in session from February 2 to May 17.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Alabama State Legislature was in session from February 4 to May 18.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Alabama State Legislature was in session from March 5 through May 31.
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See also
| Alabama | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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External links
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Candidate Alabama Secretary of State |
Officeholder Alabama Secretary of State |
Footnotes
- ↑ Alabama Secretary of State, "Judge of Probate: All Counties," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ Troy Messenger, "Allen named new probate judge," April 2, 2009
- ↑ Alabama GOP, "WES ALLEN," accessed February 18, 2020
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Elect Wes Allen as Alabama's Secretary of State, “Issues,” accessed February 25, 2022
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Merrill (R) |
Alabama Secretary of State 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Alabama House of Representatives District 89 2018-2022 |
Succeeded by Marcus Paramore (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Pike County Probate Court 2009-2018 |
Succeeded by - |
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