Allen Paul

    

The Reverend Allen Paul
Official Office Portrait, 2020
Mayor of Montgomery
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2, 2019
Preceded by	Gregory Collins
Member of the Montgomery City Council for the 2nd Ward
In office January 2, 2011 – January 2, 2019
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)
Spouse(s)	Dana Smith (m. 1994)
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 2019 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. Shortly after his college education, Paul became a pastor like his father and succeeded him at St John's Unity Church where he continues to hold service. 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 was later elected mayor in 2018.

On December 23, 2019, Paul announced his candidacy for the 2020 Antillean presidential election where he ran for the Civic Democratic nomination. He ran in the primary elections and emerged as the leaning left-wing candidate and emerged 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 nominated 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 would be re-elected in 2022 by a wide margin to serve a second term, being inaugurated for a second term on 2 January 2023. For several months in 2022 and 2023, Paul had publically expressed interest in running for president again for the 2024 presidential election. By 15 January 2023, Paul stated he would make a formal announcement on his potential candidacy in February and announced his second campaign on February 10 at a rally he held in hims home city of Montgomery, becoming the first candidate to enter the primary races.

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 the Northern Treaty Organization 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 vocal supporter of Black Lives Matter, which endorsed him in both of his presidential campaigns. 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 resided 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 began his primary education, attending Montgomery Elementary School from 1974 to 1980. In 1980, Paul began attending Charles E. Lee Middle School, eventually promoting to Eastern Montgomery Regional High School in 1983. During his teenage years, Paul began to develop his parent's progressive politics, and began to advocate for greater equality for African-Antilleans. Following the death of President Amelia Abarough and the democratization of the Antilles, Paul, alongside his parents, joined the newly-formed Reform Party, a left-leaning progressive party. In 1987, during his senior year in high school, Paul founded one of the first high school Reform Party clubs.

Paul graduated from Eastern Montgomery Regional High School in 1987 and attended the University of Montgomery, studying for a bachelor's degree in political science and in theology. During his time in university, Paul became more involved in national politics, citing his experiences feeling underrepresented. He served a campaign intern for Reform presidential candidate Michael Waltz during the 1992 presidential election and work as a canvasser to register more African Antilleans to vote. Paul graduated from the University of Montgomery with degrees in political science and theology.

Religious work

Paul meeting with other African-Antillean congregational leaders at the 2010 Black Christian Summit in New Charleston.

Following his graduation from university, Paul began to seek a career in politics. However, after a number of failed lobbying ventures, Paul instead seeking a career in religion, becoming a pastor at St. John's Unity Church, where his father worked as a head minister. As a pastor, Paul had presented a progressive take of the Bible.

Beginning in 1998, Paul involved himself in a number of Christian charity organizations, such as the Antillean Salvation Army and the Greater Good Foundation. He also began to involve himself in a number of community-centered organizations in Montgomery and the greater Montgomery Parish. In 2000, Paul co-founded Christ Cherishes, a Christian charity dedicated to ending homelessness in the Antilles. He acted as the foundation's executive chairman until 2006, when he resigned. In 2006, Paul assumed the position of head minister at St. John's Unity Church following the retirement of his father.

In 2008, Paul became a frequent guest speaker at the Columbia City Black Congregational Church in Columbia City, and became a favorite among its congregants. In the same year, Paul began to tease a potential political career, with there being speculation that he would resign as head minister at St. John's Unity in order to run for office. Despite teasing a potential run, Paul declined to run in 2008, instead endorsing a number of liberal and progressive politicians nationwide, including Reform and Civic National Party candidates.

In 2009, Paul become more involved in politics, becoming a critic of President William Abarough and the Federalist Party, who he accused of being discriminatory and "agents of evil" in a number of sermons. Although his comments were received well by his congregants, they resurfaced during the 2020 presidential election campaign, with Paul apologizing. In 2010, after months of speculation, Paul announced his resignation as head minister of St. John's Unity Church and announced his candidacy for a seat in the Montgomery City Council.

City council member

Elections

In 2010, Paul announced his long anticipated entry into politics, announcing his campaign to be elected to the Montgomery City Council as a member of the Reform Party, hopefully to represent city ward 2. Running as a Reform candidate, Paul's campaign was viewed as a "uphill battle", as the Reform Party has had a historically difficult time making gains in Hispaniola, with the Civic National and Liberal parties receiving more support amongst left-leaning Hispaniolans. However, Paul's already well-known reputation, along with support from the city's large black population, propelled him well ahead of his competitors, eventually advancing to the general election in April against incumbent Liberal councilman Arnold Wakeman.

After a tough race, Paul narrowly defeated Wakeman, receiving 51.6% of the popular vote. Paul's election victory was challenged by Wakeman, who claimed that he had won using fraudulent votes. However, a report by the Antillean Board of Elections confirmed that no form of irregular fraud was detected. Paul ran for re-election in 2014, winning 65.7% of the vote.

Tenure

As a member of the city council, Paul supported socially liberal and progressive legislation, identifying as one of more left-leaning members of the chamber.

In 2011, Paul co-sponsored and voted in favor of a resolution that endorsed the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage. With its passage, Montgomery became the first major urban center to endorse same-sex marriage legalization, with a number of cities following shortly afterwards. In the same year, Paul co-sponsored a resolution that granted greater city funding to the development of many Black-majority neighborhoods, which Paul alleges were purposefully overlooked for richer and more up-scale parts of the city. The development project, known colloquially as the Paul-Williams Project, began immediately following the passage of the resolution. Later in the same year, Paul attracted controversy after it was reported that the project enlisted the services of construction companies with a history of finance mismanagement.

In 2012, Paul attempted to become the President of the Montgomery City Council following a successful recall election against incumbent president Felix Engram. However, Paul was defeated by Sheron Williams in a private vote. In the same year, Paul supported a number of legislation supporting the re-allocation of city funds to recreational and educational centers, hoping to curb the city's rising crime rate amongst youths. In 2013, Paul openly endorsed the Provisional No More movement, a organization dedicated to ending the provisional commonwealth status of the four Antilleans states and the empowerment of commonwealth governments.

Following his re-election in 2014, Paul was criticized by other members of the council accepting the endorsement of a number of fringe leftist movements, something that Paul apologized for. In 2015, Paul was arrested after participating in protests in Montgomery alongside Black Lives Matter activists. Following his release, he continued supporting the movement, supporting a failed resolution that would have granted immunity to BLM protestors arrested in the city. He also condemned efforts by Federalist lawmakers in Columbia City to recognize Black Lives Matter as a domestic terrorist organization. Paul was one of the first incumbent lawmakers to endorse the Unity Plan, which proposed the unification of the Civic National, Liberal, and Reform parties into one united left-leaning party. This plan was eventually be followed through, with the Civic Democratic Party being founded in January of 2017.

Mayor of Montgomery

Election

In May of 2017, Paul announced that he would not be running for a third term in the city council, instead announcing his campaign for mayor in the upcoming mayoral election. His announcement came days after incumbent mayor Gregory Collins announced his retirement. Paul immediately emerged as a leading candidate for the Civic Democratic nomination, eventually defeating fellow councilor Sheron Williams in February of 2018. In the general election, Paul defeated Federalist Michelle Brown, becoming the fifth democratically-elected mayor of Montgomery. Paul won the election with 62.1% of the vote.

In January of 2021, Paul announced his re-election campaign for mayor, winning the Civic Democratic primary unopposed in February of 2022. He faced Federalist Fred Tillis in the general election on April 12, 2022, defeating him with 65.5% of the vote.

Tenure

Paul overseeing infrastructure repairs in 2019.

Following his election victory, Paul was inaugurated as the fifth mayor of Montgomery on April 12, 2018. He became the third black mayor of the city, and was the second from the Civic Democratic Party. Shortly after his inauguration, Paul announced his intentions to focus on improving the city's crumbling infrastructure and to reduce rising crime rates by "being tough on criminals". In August of 2018, Paul announced a number of road improvement projects. As a result, Paul faced controversy after Mainstreet Row, one of the busiest roads in the city, was temporarily shut down for no apparent reason.

In 2019, Paul began pursuing policies aimed at reducing penalties for minor offenses, including shoplifting and illegal drug use. A supporter of the legalization of marijuana and other recreational drugs, Paul would announce his intentions to legalize the former in the city of Montgomery, and to completely eliminate "discriminatory drug laws" targeted at "disaffected and Black communities". Paul slightly reversed his promise, instead pushing for the legalization of marijuana in March of 2019.

In 2020, during his presidential and later vice presidential campaign, Paul was absent for most portions of the year, with President of the Montgomery City Council and former election opponent Sheron Williams operate as "acting mayor". This generated much controversy, with opponents to Paul claiming that he "abandoned" the city in pursuit of federal office. During a town hall meeting in June of 2020, Paul was confronted by a number of city residents for his absence, and in response Paul promised to "spend more time at home". Following the beginning of the George Floyd protests, Paul announced cuts to the Montgomery police department, and opened an investigation into allegations of police violence in the city.

Following his election defeat in November, Paul returned to full duties as mayor in December of 2020. In February of 2021, Paul declared that the city of Montgomery became a "free city for LGBTQ+ Antilleans" as a reaction to the political beliefs of newly-inaugurated president Arian Lawrence. Following the public release of the COVID-19 vaccine, Paul received praise for his rollout plan, which was lauded as one of the more successful rollout plans in the country. In July of 2021, Paul announced his intentions to begin enforcing vaccine mandates in Montgomery public schools, but was stopped by a court order. In January of 2022, Paul generatde media attention after the entirety of the Montgomery police department walked out on him during his annual address to the department. Officers cited his support for the international "defund-the-police" movement and policies as a reason for the walkout. Paul stated his surprise at the walkout, acknowledged his "strained" relationship with the department, and promised to work towards reconciliation between his office and the department.

2020 presidential campaign

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

Presidential campaign

On November 2, 2019, Paul released a video statement where he announced the beginning of his presidential campaign for the 2020 Antillean presidential election where he declared his intent to seek out and win the Civic Democratic nomination. In the video, Paul briefly summarized his upbringing and his tenure as a city council member and mayor of Montgomery and laid out his progressive liberal policies such as advocating for LGBT rights, pushing for gun control, and seeking to crack down on police brutality within the city. He also called out the Federalist-dominated nature of Antillean politics and how he seeks to challenge that status quo and push for policies believed by what he called the "neglected electorate". Weeks later on November 19, 2019, Paul participated in the second Civic Democratic Party debate, where he argued in favor of a much more progressive party platform policies, including the legalization of labor unions, something that had been largely avoided by other candidates.

Despite performing well in the debates, Paul ranked fifth among nationwide polls, polling at 11% in December of 2019. However, support for Paul's campaign greatly improved in January and February of 2020, as African-Antillean and young Civic Democrats became attracted to his progressive policies and charismatic persona. By the beginning of the Civic Democratic primaries, Paul emerged as the leader of the growing progressive wing of the Civic Democratic Party, and was the top contender for the nomination along with House Minority leader William Abernathy, who largely represented the moderate and socially liberal wing of the party. In the primaries, Abernathy emerged victorious, earning 53% to Paul's 47% in the popular vote and TBD delegates.

Vice presidential selection

Main article: 2020 Civic Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection

Paul's strong performance in the Civil Democratic primaries made it so that he held significant leverage in regards to the party's vice presidential selection process. Numerous candidates were floated around by Abernathy and his campaign. Paul's supporters pushed for him to be the party's vice presidential nominee heavily citing his strong performance, strong following among African-Antillean and young voters, and an avid figure of the progressive movement. By July, months following his suspension of his presidential campaign, Paul and U.C. Senator David Castaway of Puerto Rico emerged as the top two contenders for the vice presidential nomination. In August, Paul was selected as the party's vice presidential nomination.

2024 presidential campaign

Main article: Allen Paul 2024 presidential campaign

Political positions

Allen Paul identifies as a staunch social liberal and a progressive, advocating for what he calls for a fundamental transformation of Antillean politics and of the Antillean political system. Paul supports the legalization of same-sex marriage and the implementation of full LGBT rights in the country along with the repealing of most laws restricting abortion in the country. Paul supports the legalization of labor unions in the country and the historic expansion of workers' rights in the country calling the ban an example of "reactionary right-wing authoritarianism" during a 2020 speech on the campaign trail. Paul also calls for substantive electoral reform to break the Federalist Party's grip on national politics.

Social issues

Paul is a social liberal and supports expanding civil rights for the island nation's demographic minorities. Paul is pro-choice and opposes most laws that restrict abortion in the country, viewing abortion as a woman's individual choice that should be left up to them and is a choice that the government has no role to serve. As a city council member and mayor, Paul liberalized Montgomery's abortion laws to the point the city was called an "abortion haven" within Hispaniola. Paul also backs LGBT rights, supporting the legalization of same-sex marriage and supporting full legal equality for all LGBT Antillean citizens.

Foreign policy

Allen Paul is an American unionist and supports Antillean membership in the Conference of American States, viewing the organization as a positive force and views it as a necessity for maintaining the Antilles' sovereignty. Paul also supports the Antilles joining the Northern Treaty Organization as well. Paul is a supporter of the Antillean independence movement as well, calling for the decleration of the Antilles' as an independent state and supports both the renunciation of the Antilles' claims to the American mainland and to rename the country to the United States of the Antilles.

See also

• Black Lives Matter Antilles
• Progressivism in the Antilles