Allen Paul

 

The Reverend Allen Paul
File:Raphael Warnock GH 7986 (50335797752) (cropped).jpg Official Office Portrait, 2020
Mayor of Montgomery
Incumbent
Assumed office April 12, 2018
Preceded by	Gregory Collins
Member of the Montgomery City Council for the 2nd Ward
In office April 10, 2010 – April 12, 2018
Preceded by	Arnold Wakeman
Succeeded by	Michelle Williams
Personal details
Born	(1969-07-23) July 23, 1969 Montgomery, Hispaniola, Antilles
Political party	Civic Democratic
Other political affiliations	Reform Party (1987–2017)
Children	2
Education	University of Montgomery
Religion	Christianity

Allen Gabriel Paul (born July 23, 1969) is an Antillean pastor and politician serving as Mayor of Montgomery since 2018 and previously served on the Montgomery City Council from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Civic Democratic Party, Paul was previously a member of the Reform Party from 1987 until the party dissolved in 2017 and merged to form the Civic Democratic Party with the Liberal Party and Civic National Party.

Allen was born in Montgomery in Hispaniola into a working class family in the city. His mother was a nurse and his dad was an engineer, but became a pastor in 1977 at St. John's Unity Church until his retirement in 2006. Paul would attend the University of Montgomery and graduated with a degree in political science and theology. He would then become a pastor like his father and succeeded him at St John's Unity Church where he would preach from since 2006. In 2010, he was elected to the Montgomery City Council for the 2nd ward and pushed for numerous progressive and liberal reforms which gained him attention and support amongst the largely liberal and center-left leaning citizens of the city. He would later be elected mayor in 2018.

On December 23, 2019, Paul announced his candidacy for the 2020 Antillean presidential election where he would run for the Civic Democratic nomination. He would run in the primary elections and emerged as the leaning left-wing candidate and would emerge as one of the two main candidates along with William Abernathy who represented the moderate liberal center-left wing of the party. Abernathy emerged victorious, but would nominate Paul to serve as his running mate and candidate for the position of vice president as part of an ideological and political unity ticket. During the vice presidential debate with Mitchell Vargas of the Federalist Party, Paul was praised for his strong performance, charisma, appeal to ordinary voters and people, and strong responses to Vargas' claims along with his strong defense of his political positions.

Paul identifies as a progressive and social liberal supporting significant policies for social progress including legalizing same-sex marriage, supports repealing most abortion laws to make it more accessible and is pro-choice, and opposes patriotic education calling it right-wing indoctrination. He supports the legalizaton of labor unions and expanding workers' rights and supports regulating major corporations and big businesses claiming that they have the power to be as authoritarian as any government. On foreign policy, Paul supports Antillean membership in the Conference of American States and identifies as an American unionist along with membership into NATO as well. Paul also supports renaming cities and parishes that are named after military and political leaders of the Confederate States of America and is a staunch supporter of Black Lives Matter. Since 2020, Paul has been called one of the Antilles' most famous liberal progressive and left-wing figures.

Early life and education

Allen Gabriel Paul July 23, 1969 to Franklin and Anita Paul in Montgomery, Hispaniola. His father worked as a electrical engineer until 1977, where he became a pastor at the St. John's Unity Church in downtown Montgomery. His mother worked at the Montgomery Parish Hospital as a nurse, the same hospital Paul was born at. Paul was the first of three children, having two younger brothers. The Paul family would reside in suburban Montgomery, living in a lower middle class environment.

Despite the family's economic situation, the family's continued devotion to Christianity greatly shaped Paul's early life, helping keep a positive attitude despite a number of issues. At the age of five, Paul would begin his primary education, attending Montgomery Elementary School from 1974 to 1980. In 1980, Paul would begin attending Charles E. Lee Middle School, eventually promoting to Eastern Montgomery Regional High School in 1983...

2020 presidential campaign

Main articles: Allen Paul 2020 presidential campaign and William Abernathy 2020 presidential campaign

See also

• Black Lives Matter Antilles
• Progressivism in the Antilles