Allen Responds to Ethics Complaint Accusations

A spokesperson for Wes Allen provided the following statement to ALPolitics.com Wednesday morning in response to a report by ALPolitics.com that Terrie Ryan, former Chairman of the Conecuh County Republican Party, has filed two complaints against Allen with the Alabama Ethics Commission.

The complaints allegedly raise concerns about the use of office for personal gain and conflicts involving public officials, and request a review by the Ethics Commission.

Allen’s statement is as follows:

“This is a blatant ploy by the Wahl campaign to abuse the ethics system to try to score political points with false accusations. 

“This is especially interesting considering the only candidate for Lt. Governor that has violated Alabama Ethics Laws is John Wahl. Wahl was required to file a Statement of Economic Interest with the Alabama Ethics Commission by April 30, 2026 due to his seat on the Alabama Public Library Service Board. Wahl failed to complete the filing which makes him subject to a misdemeanor. Perhaps, Mrs. Ryan would like to file that complaint with the Alabama Ethics Commission which, unlike the complaints she has filed, would be legitimate. 

“As for the false allegations made against me in this pathetic political stunt by a candidate who knows he is behind in the polls and is choosing to continue his long and established history of lying to Alabama voters to try to deceive:

“First, state law requires that the Secretary of State is directed to inform the public of our voter ID requirements and money is allocated by the legislature for that specific purpose. These ads have been run by past Secretaries of State including Merrill and Chapman. 

“As to the amount, more than $370k of the money spent in 2025 was for ads that aired during the Presidential election cycle but were not billed by the vendor until 2025. Approximately  $60k was spent to pay for the production of voter IDs as required by state law. Additionally, more than 400 municipalities had elections and runoffs in 2025 in which voter ID notification for more than 3 million voters was included in the expenditure.

“Wes Allen’s name did not appear on any ballot in 2025 and the commercials promoted the ID law, not Allen as a candidate. Furthermore, the commercials have not changed in content since Allen initially took office. 

“It is not surprising that the Wahl campaign would oppose the promotion of our state’s voter ID laws since he used a fake ID with a fake name to vote while being registered in two states simultaneously. A member of his family testified against Alabama’s voter ID law and referred to it as the “mark of the beast.”

“Furthermore, for the first time in Secretary of State history, Wes Allen went to the legislature to request a decrease in the fund allocated for these purposes by $600k and for that decrease to take effect on October 1, 2025 and would extend through 2026, the year Allen’s name actually appears on ballots, contrary to the claims made in the bogus ethics complaint. 

“As to the second claim, it is completely false. True Targeted Digital Solutions nor Angi Horn have ever received any money from the Secretary of State’s office.

“It is unfortunate that Ms. Ryan has been lied to by Wahl and has been led to file these frivolous claims that are so easily disproven. She can add her name to a long list of people that Wahl has lied to, manipulated and used in attempts to advance his own agenda.”

Editor’s note: the press release about Ryan’s filing of the two ethics complaints did not originate with John Wahl or the Wahl for Lt. Governor campaign. ALPolitics.com has reached out to Ryan for an interview, but at this time we have not received a response.

This is a developing story.