One week before voters settle the most combustible runoff on the June 16 ballot, the race for Lt. Governor continues to go scorched earth.
Terrie Ryan, former chairman of the Conecuh County Republican Party, sent a notice to news outlets on Tuesday night to announce that she filed two formal complaints with the Alabama Ethics Commission against Secretary of State Wes Allen, accusing him of using the power and resources of his office to promote himself while campaigning for higher office.
Allen, in a blistering statement to Yellowhammer News, called the complaints “a blatant ploy by the Wahl campaign to abuse the ethics system,” and returned fire on his runoff opponent, former ALGOP chairman John Wahl, with accusations of his own.
The first complaint concerns advertising spending by the office of the Secretary of State. Citing figures from the state’s open.alabama.gov transparency portal, Ryan argues advertising expenditures rose from approximately $127,272 in Fiscal Year 2024 to $1,037,195.96 in Fiscal Year 2025. Allen announced his campaign for lieutenant governor in February 2025.
Ryan’s complaint alleges that a substantial portion of that advertising prominently featured Allen’s name and image.
“This is exactly the kind of insider abuse Alabama voters are tired of,” Ryan said. “Taxpayer dollars should never be used as a personal publicity fund for a politician trying to climb the political ladder.”
The second complaint focuses on a two-year, approximately $140,000 public relations contract issued in January 2023 to True Targeted Digital Solutions. The firm’s principal, Angi Horn, is a registered Alabama lobbyist and a paid consultant to Allen’s political campaigns.
Ryan’s complaint alleges the dual role created a conflict of interest the Ethics Commission should investigate.
“Wes Allen owes the people of Alabama answers,” Ryan said. “When the same political operative is being paid with public dollars and campaign dollars, voters have every right to question whether the Secretary of State’s office was being used to serve the people, or to serve Wes Allen’s political ambitions.”
“These are not rumors. These are not political attacks. These are public records, public dollars, and serious ethical questions,” Ryan added. “The people of Alabama deserve a full investigation.”
Alabama law treats ethics complaints and their supporting information with the same secrecy as grand jury proceedings, and unlawful disclosure is a Class C felony.
In response, Allen dismissed each of the allegations, and unloaded a clip of his own.
“This is a blatant ploy by the Wahl campaign to abuse the ethics system to try to score political points with false accusations,” Allen said in a statement to Yellowhammer News.
“This is especially interesting considering the only candidate for Lt. Governor that has violated Alabama Ethics Laws is John Wahl,” Allen continued.
“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.”
On the advertising spending, Allen said state law requires the Secretary of State to inform the public of Alabama’s voter ID requirements, with money allocated by the Legislature for that specific purpose — and noted the ads have been run by past secretaries of state, including John Merrill and Beth Chapman.
As for the FY2025 total, Allen said more than $370,000 of the money was for ads that aired during the presidential election cycle but were not billed by the vendor until 2025, approximately $60,000 paid for the production of voter IDs as required by state law, and more than 400 municipalities held elections and runoffs in 2025 requiring voter ID notification for more than 3 million voters.
“Wes Allen’s name did not appear on any ballot in 2025 and the commercials promoted the ID law, not Allen as a candidate,” he said. “Furthermore, the commercials have not changed in content since Allen initially took office.”
Allen also said that, for the first time in the office’s history, he went to the Legislature to request a $600,000 decrease in the fund allocated for those purposes — effective October 1, 2025, and extending through 2026, “the year Allen’s name actually appears on ballots, contrary to the claims made in the bogus ethics complaint.”
His office has previously touted cutting the Photo Voter ID advertising budget as part of an effort to eliminate $2 million in spending.
Allen’s statement in full:
“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.”
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
