Rick Allen (politician)

Richard Wayne Allen (born November 7, 1951) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative for GA's 12th congressional district since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Career
Allen attended Auburn University and earned a degree in building construction. While at Auburn he joined Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. He is the founder of R.W. Allen and Associates, a construction company headquartered in Augusta.

Elections
Allen ran in the Republican primary for the 12th district against three other candidates. He advanced to the runoff, but lost to State Representative Lee Anderson, 49.7% to 50.3%. Anderson went on to lose the general election to incumbent John Barrow.

Allen ran again in 2014, this time making it to the general election. He defeated Barrow in the November election, a result considered an upset even though the 12th district had been made significantly more Republican by redistricting.

Allen was reelected with 62% of the vote in 2016.

In 2018, after winning the Republican primary with 75.99% of the vote, Allen defeated the Democratic nominee, lawyer and pastor Francys Johnson, with 61% of the vote.

Allen was reelected with 58% of the vote in 2020.

Committee assignments
For the 118th Congress:
 * Committee on Education and the Workforce
 * Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
 * Committee on Energy and Commerce
 * Subcommittee on Communications and Technology
 * Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Minerals
 * Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce

Caucuses

 * Republican Study Committee

LGBT rights
In 2015, Allen cosponsored a resolution to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Allen also cosponsored an amendment disagreeing with the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violated the constitution.

During a closed-door Republican meeting about an amendment that prohibited discrimination against LGBT workers, Allen read a Bible verse that says of homosexuals, "they which commit such things are worthy of death." He told the assembled Republicans that they were "going to Hell" if they voted for the amendment. After the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, Allen offered prayers to the families of the victims but did not apologize or retract his past comments.

In 2022, Allen voted against H.R.8404 - the Respect for Marriage Act—which would codify same-sex and interracial marriages.

In October 2023, Allen said he could not support Speaker of the House candidate Tom Emmer on the grounds that Emmer had previously supported a bill that would offer the same federal protections to same-sex couples as heterosexual couples.

Texas v. Pennsylvania
In December 2020, Allen was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.

Foreign policy
In 2019, Allen was one of 60 representatives to vote against condemning President Trump's withdrawal from Syria.

In 2020, Allen voted against the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021, which would prevent the president from withdrawing soldiers from Afghanistan without congressional approval.

Allen voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

STOCK act violations
In September 2021, an analysis by Business Insider found that Allen appeared to have violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012, or STOCK Act, by failing to list on his 2020 financial disclosure form stock holdings in seven companies, worth up to $140,000, that appeared on his 2019 annual financial disclosure form, as well as being about 15 months late in reporting a stock purchase made by his wife in June 2020.

In June 2024, an analysis by Raw Story found that Allen appeared to have violated the STOCK Act by being as much as six-and-a-half years late in reporting 136 stock and other financial transactions, worth up to $8.5 million, on his 2023 financial disclosure form. In response, a spokesperson for Allen blamed the reporting issues on a compliance firm hired by Allen, and stated that Allen had hired a new compliance firm "to ensure all trades have been properly reported."

Personal life
Allen lives in Augusta, Georgia. A Methodist, he is married to Robin Allen and has four children.