Republican candidate running for Congress in 4 different states
By Stephanie McNeal
• Published January 31, 2014
• FoxNews.com
Allan Levene is running for Congress in his home state of Georgia and three other states.Allan levene
Talk about hedging your bets.
While some might put their money on both the Broncos and Seahawks this weekend, a 64-year-old Republican congressional candidate is putting himself and his money into not one, but four races at the same time. Allan Levene is running for the House of Representatives in his home state of Georgia -- as well as Michigan, Minnesota and Hawaii.
While Levene's plan is unorthodox, it also seems to be legal.
The Constitution says a person elected to the House must be a resident of the state they will represent when elected, but says nothing about the primaries. So, Levene's logic goes, he doesn't have to pick one race unless and until he wins a primary.
Levene's reasoning is simple: he wants to be a member of Congress and feels he is too old to follow a traditional path by working his way up in local government. A naturalized citizen originally from England, he told FoxNews.com he feels compelled to serve.
“I have such a debt to this country, a debt of gratitude to the United States for taking me in and letting me become a citizen about 40 years ago that I have to repay it,” he said. “I just have to.”
Though his plan certainly risks turning off voters in the states where he does not live, Levene said he got the idea when he was studying the Constitution and realized it was legal.
“The Founding Fathers wrote in the Constitution -- they didn't really understand you could fly from state to state because people couldn't really travel before, they could only really focus on one state where they lived,” he said. “Times have changed so I am running in four states.”
First up on Levene’s agenda is his home state, Georgia, where he is running to replace GOP Rep. Phil Gingrey in the state's 11th District. Gingrey announced last year he will seek the Republican nomination for Senate in the race to replace GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss.
The 11th district is holding its open primary in May, three months earlier than the other states where Levene is running. Levene says he is focusing on that race for now, but if he is does not win the primary he will turn his focus to the other three.
One of the main issues Levene is running on is jobs. He said he wants to reduce the corporate tax rate to zero, with the hopes of bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. and creating a “tax haven” for overseas businesses. He also has a proposal he says will stop overspending in Congress by forcing incumbents out of office. His plan would allow lawmakers to be in office no more than eight years or nix their pensions.
All four of the districts Levene is running in are districts in which the incumbent is not seeking another term. Levene says he chose them for various reasons, but does not feel the fact he does not live in them should impact his electability.
“I can represent the public no matter where I live,” he said.
However, K. Mark Takai, a Hawaii state representative running as a Democrat in the same race for Hawaii's 1st district, is skeptical of that claim. Takai told FoxNews.com while he respects Levene's right to run in multiple states as long as it's legal, he finds his strategy a "bit odd" and is not sure it will resonate with Hawaiians.
“It’s the heart of democracy. The heart of representative government (is) you want someone to represent you who represents your community and its people," Takai said.
However, Levene says he is already garnering strong interest in Hawaii and some interest in Michigan, because his ideas are ones that resonate across state lines.
“People are people everywhere, and they are all interested in the same thing,” he said.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/31/republican-candidate-running-for-congress-in-4-different-states/
