A Political Train Wreck: How Angie Horn and Wes Allen Sank a Lieutenant Governor Campaign ​

By Christopher M Peeks June 20, 2026

​A lot of words come to mind when examining how political consultant Angie Horn ran her one major race of the 2026 election cycle: inept, incompetent, embarrassing, and a total train derailment.

​Horn’s management style for Secretary of State Wes Allen’s lieutenant governor campaign equaled a pilot flying a plane into a building. While the captain of the Titanic tried to avoid the iceberg, Horn signaled "full steam ahead" and struck the frozen mass head-on.

​For starters, both Horn and Allen are cut from the same cloth—vindictive, entitled individuals.

​Early on, Allen made grave errors by assailing his primary opponents, which served him no purpose. There remained no strategic reason to target Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate or Dr. Nicole Jones-Wadsworth, who possessed no threat to him in the polls. Allen, in his infinite wisdom, went after both for daring to run against him, specifically ridiculing Dr. Wadsworth for being more educated—likely at Horn's behest.

​Allen, the one-term Secretary of State, former representative, and Pike County probate judge, seemed unstoppable in his bid to become the state’s number-two man. He held support from the "Big Mule" establishment, trade associations, members of the state legislature, and various mayors across the Yellowhammer State.

​But on his way to presiding over the Senate, qualifying day arrived: John Wahl entered the race with the President’s backing, and everything changed.

​Allen immediately blundered by attacking Wahl’s faith, mocking his name, "Nehemiah." Taking a shot at a guy for having a biblical name in a state that is the third notch in the Bible Belt? He further attacked Wahl for attending an interfaith breakfast in East Alabama that included Muslims, Jews, Christians, monks, and Hindus. All of these attacks fell flat.

​They made a disastrous mistake airing a commercial of him holding a snake and taking shots at his profession. Why go after an animal lover who is a butterfly farmer? Everyone loves butterflies. In desperation, they even went after the man for being engaged which he countered effectively by showing his lovely fiance in television advertisement.

​You had a candidate in Wes Allen who already projected a snarly, mean demeanor, and your campaign's assaults made John a sympathetic figure, more likable by the day.

​Lastly, the "Charlie the Raccoon" ad will go down in the annals of history as the stupidest spot ever aired. Apparently, Mr. Wahl’s girlfriend held a permit for the creature, and the Allen campaign created a CGI version to malign John.

​Dumbfounded does not begin to describe the reaction. This commercial hit national media, and in the kicker, nobody knew what it meant. They just saw the talking animal. The Wahl campaign played this to their advantage by showing the creature with a butterfly tattoo, signaling support. How ingenious!

​Talking with a friend, I noted that this does not even compare to the Dukakis tank photo. My friend noted that in that ad, they at least tried to turn Dukakis into a tough guy; this was just a talking beast.

​This exposed Horn for the failure she is. Her claim to fame involved riding a popular country doctor, State Representative Robert Bentley, to the governor's mansion, but many other factors aided his ascension.

​The result of this campaign is what happens when a charlatan represents a fraud.

​The "scorched earth" strategy employed by Horn and Allen blew up in their faces like a Fourth of July bottle rocket with a short fuse. In all fairness, Allen defeating Wahl after the President’s endorsement would prove a hard test for anyone, but this still should have been a slugfest.

​In reality, Allen proved a paper tiger, and Angie, just a loudmouthed, know-it-all "Karen." Hopefully, this dynamic duo will never be a factor in Alabama politics again.

Wes Allen