Allan Levene lives in Kennesaw, Georgia, but is running against U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann in Tennessee’s 3rd Congressional District.
Levene says he’s done his research and election law doesn’t prevent him from seeking a Republican primary nomination in a state where he has nothing but a UPS Store mailbox and some campaign signs.
In 2014, he did something similar: he ran in a Republican primary in Hawaii,although living in Georgia at the time. He lost, getting less than four percent of the vote.
Levene is a self-employed business owner who claims he’s wealthy enough to never work again, but chooses to work because he enjoys it. His campaign site says he’s willing to teach his wealth secrets to others—for a price:
So here’s the sweetener. I will be giving seminars to the top fifty largest contributors donating over $200 to my campaign if I win the general election. In these seminars I will teach each donor the exact technique I used to create a substantial income without having to go to work… ever again. Yes, it’s legal but I have some different ideas from people who have used something similar. I will pass them along to you.
As an added sweetener, I will reveal another tax saving technique that I don’t think has ever been used in the way that I do that can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal and state taxes. I haven’t talked about it, even to my closest friends, before I’m afraid that the laws will be changed to block the method once it gets out. As it will take years to change the law, that shouldn’t be a concern to you.
The Federal Election Commission declined to comment on whether offering such "sweeteners" is acceptable under campaign finance law.
It's a long commute from Kennesaw to East Tennessee, but Levene says his home in Georgia is for sale, and he and his wife do plan to move to Tennessee soon. He also doesn't seem worried that Volunteer State voters might feel alienated by his distance from them.
“It’s the economy," Levene says. "It’s the same thing every day across the entire country. The problems that people have in the third district are the same problems people have anywhere in the South or anywhere in the country. It’s fundamentally, they need to make a decent living, they need to count on an increase in their standard of living, and they need to take care of their children.”
The Hamilton County August 2016 Primary is August 4, and early voting is underway.
