Rep. Tom Allen (D) Elected 1996, 5th term
Born:	Apr. 16, 1945, Portland
Home:	Portland
Education:	Bowdoin Col., B.A. 1967, Rhodes Scholar, Oxford U., B. Phil. 1970; Harvard J.D. 1974
Religion:	Protestant
Marital Status:	married (Diana)
Elected  Office:	Portland City Cncl., 1989-95; Portland Mayor, 1991.
Professional Career:	Staffer, U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie, 1970-71; Practicing atty., 1974-94; Chmn., ME Clinton-Gore Campaign, 1992; Public Policy Consultant, 1995.
DC Office	1127 LHOB20515, 202-225-6116; Fax: 202-225-5590; Web site: www.tomallen.house.gov
State Offices	Portland, 207-774-5019; Saco, 207-283-8054.
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The 1st District of Maine stretches from southernmost Kittery and nearby Kennebunkport to the craggy-shored ancestrally Republican counties to the east. The historic center is Portland, Maine's largest city, home to the yuppies and lawyers that have revived and renovated its downtown landmarks. Portland's antique charm, mostly booming economy and tolerant lifestyle have made it a haven for singles, for lesbians and gays: the 2000 Census reported that Portland has the nation's third-largest concentration of women living together and is tenth in men living together. L.L. Bean, open 24/7/365, is not far away in Freeport. Former farm towns have transformed into suburbia, and old mill towns like Biddeford and Sanford have seen commercial development. Most voters in the 1st District live within a couple hours drive of the Maine Mall--just off the Maine Turnpike and I-295 and near the airport--the state's heaviest concentration of retail and office space. Lobsters are not just a tradition here but an economic resource: Lobster fishing has been booming, even though fish stocks are down, and there's a new market in northern Europe for Maine shrimp. Politically, the 1st votes very much like the state as a whole, quirkily, often for independents, splitting tickets with abandon, a little more Democratic in presidential elections than the 2d. From 1968 to 1996 it elected three Democrats and three Republicans to the House, with each party holding the seat for 14 years.

The congressman from the 1st District is Tom Allen, a Democrat first elected in 1996. Allen grew up in Portland, where his grandfather and father served on the city council. He was class president in high school and college; at Bowdoin, he was captain of the football team and criticized fraternities because they wouldn't admit blacks. He was a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford the same years as Bill Clinton (who struck him as "one of the nicest, warmest people I ever knew"), Robert Reich and Strobe Talbott, and when he returned, he got a job on the staff of Senator Edmund Muskie. Then he dropped out of politics, went to law school, practiced in Portland, and worked on charities and community service. In 1989 he was elected to the Portland City Council, and in 1991 rotated into the position of mayor. In 1994 he ran for governor, finishing a distant second to former Governor Joseph Brennan in the Democratic primary. The 1st District race in 1996 was an obvious next step, and an attractive opportunity. Freshman Republican James Longley had a well-known name as son of the independent governor elected in 1974, and he had won the 1994 race 52%-48%. But Longley's moderate record was overshadowed by his support for the Contract with America and more than $1 million in ads run against him by the AFL-CIO. Allen, with heavy support from Portland, won a 52%-48% primary victory over state Senator Dale McCormick. In the general, the candidates disagreed on capital punishment, partial-birth abortion, term limits and the balanced budget amendment. Allen called for scaling back Republicans' $10 billion increase in defense spending. Longley pointed out that it included a Navy destroyer to be built at the Bath Iron Works; Allen backtracked and said he would of course support Maine defense contracts. Allen won 55%-45%.

Allen has a liberal voting record. His first major initiative was a bipartisan campaign finance bill, proposed with other freshmen. After Allen launched a discharge petition, Speaker Newt Gingrich allowed the freshman bill to come to the floor as the vehicle for campaign finance bills. When the more stringent Shays-Meehan bill passed the House later that year, he became an active proponent. When a revised version was later enacted, Common Cause lauded his leadership. On the Energy and Commerce Committee, he was an outspoken foe of the Republicans' Medicare prescription drug bill.

On other issues, Allen pushed to require coal-burning power plants and trash incinerators to cut mercury emissions 90%, and he feared the impact on fish in local lakes; he accused the Bush Administration of reneging on promises to do its own scientific analyses. He helped to secure $2.8 billion for three Aegis destroyers with construction work divided by Bath Iron Works in Maine and Ingalls Shipyard in Mississippi, plus funds for projects at Saco Defense, Brunswick Naval Air Station, and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery. He worked to protect Brunswick and Portsmouth in the 2005 base-closing round but when the Pentagon's recommendations were released in May 2005, the shipyard was slated for closure and Brunswick was to have all of its aircraft and half its military personnel eliminated. Allen called the job losses "devastating."

He backed the Bush administration's plan to dismantle MX missiles, but voiced alarm that the planned reduction in shipbuilding would reduce the Navy's fleet to 240 ships. He voted against the use of force in Iraq because the resolution gave President Bush "a blank check," and later called the war "a major miscalculation." He launched a House Ocean Caucus and called for a presidential ocean policy adviser to focus on environmental, fishing and other topics that affect Maine's 3,500-mile shoreline. Without conservation of fishing stocks, he warned, quotas would become necessary.

Allen appears to have a secure hold on this once competitive district. Against a conservative who attacked him as "anti-defense," he won 64%-36% in 2002. Against an aide to Senator Olympia Snowe who criticized him for leaving Armed Services when base-closing rounds loomed, he won 60%-40% in 2004.

Committees

• Budget (12th of 17 D).
• Energy & Commerce (19th of 26 D): Energy & Air Quality; Environment & Hazardous Materials; Health.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	100	89	100	91	50	11	38	8	0	15	--
2003	95	--	100	90	--	22	30	8	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	79%	--	20%		69%	--	31%
Social	92%	--	0%		73%	--	25%
Foreign	73%	--	25%		81%	--	18%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR N 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. DC School Vouchers N 6. Ban Human Cloning N		7. Restrict Gun Liability N  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion N  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage N 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds Y 12. Intelligence Reorg. N

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Tom Allen (D)	219,077	60%	$727,772
	Charles Summers (R)	147,663	40%	$505,698
2004 primary	Tom Allen (D)	unopposed
2002 general	Tom Allen (D)	172,646	64%	$521,308
	Steven Joyce (R)	97,931	36%	$172,350
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (60%); 1998 (60%); 1996 (55%)

2004 Presidential Vote Kerry (D) 211,703 (55%) Bush (R) 165,824 (43%)

2000 Presidential Vote Gore (D) 168,266 (50%) Bush (R) 144,013 (43%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the First District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D + 6
• District Size: 5,400 square miles
• Population in 2000: 637,450; 49.4% urban; 50.6% rural
• Median Household Income: $42,044; 8.6% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 23.0% blue collar; 61.5% white collar; 15.6% gray collar; 15.8% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 96.3% White, 0.6% Black, 0.9% Asian, 0.3% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 0.9% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 0.8% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 16.2% English, 12.1% Irish, 9.5% French
• Click here for statewide demographic data.