- Tom Allen
Infobox_Congressman
name =Tom Allen
state =Maine
district = 1st
preceded = Jim Longley
succeeded =
term_start =January 3 ,1997
party =Democratic
date of birth=birth date and age|1945|04|16
place of birth =Portland, Maine
alma_mater =Bowdoin College ,Oxford University ,Harvard University
profession =attorney, political assistant
spouse = Diana Allen
residence =Portland, Maine
religion = Non-denominationalProtestant Thomas Hodge "Tom" Allen (born
April 16 1945 ) is a member of theUnited States House of Representatives representing ushr|Maine|1| and a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2008 against Sen.Susan Collins .Allen was first elected in 1996, defeating Republican incumbent
James Longley, Jr. with 55 percent of votes cast to Longley's 45 percent. Allen has been re-elected five times since, receiving over 55 percent of the vote each time in his district.Personal
Allen was born in
Brooklyn, Iowa to Genevieve (“Sukey”) Lahee and Charles W. Allen. [ [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/reps/allen.htm genealogy.rootsweb.com] ] He graduated fromDeering High School . He went on toBowdoin College inBrunswick, Maine before winning aRhodes Scholarship to Wadham College in theUniversity of Oxford . During this time he became friends withBill Clinton , his fellow Rhodes scholar. After Oxford he went on toHarvard Law School and practiced as a lawyer. He entered the field of politics when he became a staff member for GovernorKenneth M. Curtis and later for SenatorEdmund S. Muskie . Allen was elected to the city council ofPortland, Maine in 1989 and served as the city's mayor between 1991-1992 before entering the House.Congressional service
Tom Allen fought Republican efforts to weaken environmental rollbacks between 1996 and 2007. Allen called for a
pay-as-you-go system that would require offsets to pay for new taxcuts and new spending while on the Budget Committee, much like the system Democrats enacted in their first 100 hours of Congressional control in the 110th Congress.Allen has made health care, campaign finance reform, and small business his legislative priorities.
Committee Assignments
*
House Energy and Commerce Committee
**Subcommittee on Health
**Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee
**Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee
*House Budget Committee
*House Affordable Medicines Task Force (Co-Chairman)
*House Oceans Caucusenate campaign
Allen announced his Senate candidacy on
May 8 ,2007 , in a video on his campaign web site. [ [http://www.tomallen.org tomallen.org] ] [ [http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/011679.html mainetoday.com] ]Critical Insights — an independent polling firm inPortland, Maine — released a poll the same day that showed SenatorSusan Collins is a strong favorite. The poll of 600 likely voters, including 38% Democrats, showed 54% percent of Democrats supported Allen; 10% of those polled responded that they were undecided. Collins had the support of 85% of Republicans and 65% of independents.cite news |title=Allen makes Senate campaign official|url=http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/allen-makes-senate-campaign-official-2007-05-08.html|publisher=The Hill (newspaper) |date=2007-05-09 |accessdate=2007-05-12]Allen has received at least $250,000 in campaign funds raised by
MoveOn.org . [ [http://www.politicalbase.com/index.php?obj=10&action=showPeopleState&year=2008&officeId=10&changed=&c1=32765&c2=36033&c3=0&c4=0 politicalbase.com] ] [ [http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=154421&zoneid=500 bangordailynews.com] ] Allen declined to condemn MoveOn.org's newspaper ad questioningGeneral Petraeus 's honesty and patriotism, stating that it is a free speech issue. [ [http://www.tomallen.org/newsroom_details.asp?id=952 tomallen.org] ]Tom Allen's office has been beset by protesters wanting him to proceed with impeachment of President Bush, [ [http://www.mainewebreport.com/2007/11/14/grandma-cuffed-at-tom-allens-office mainewebreport.com] ] followed by police and by
Laurie Dobson , also an announced opponent in the 2008 Maine Senate race in the seventh day of her hunger strike seeking to draw publicity from political figures to pressure Rep. Allen on this impeachment issue.Election history
Footnotes
External links
* [http://tomallen.house.gov/ U.S. Congressman Tom Allen] , U.S. House site
* [http://www.tomallen.org/ Tom Allen for U.S. Senate] , official campaign site
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tom_Allen Profile] atSourceWatch Congresspedia
* Featured in: The Lure of The Law Moll, Richard W.
* [http://www.politicalbase.com/people/tom-allen/3936/ Rep. Tom Allen] at PoliticalBase.com
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