John Merrill silences Wes Allen: Merrill takes the high road.
- Christopher M Peeks
- Apr 28
- 3 min read
By Christopher M Peeks April 28, 2025
Just when the ongoing public conflict between former Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill and the current Secretary Wes Allen appeared destined for a political nuclear holocaust, as Yellowhammer News described the war of words, Secretary Merrill blasted Allen's ICBMs out of the sky with his poignant response.
Somewhere after reading that, I can envision Secretary Allen saying, "Oh."
This all started a few weeks back when Wes Allen, testifying before the Senate on election security, offered a sharp criticism of John Merrill's time serving as Alabama's Secretary of State from 2015 to 2023.
Then, on Easter Sunday, Mr. Merrill issued a statement regarding Allen's comments. That is when things turned ugly. Allen "went there."
Secretary Allen opened an old wound. He attacked John Merrill's character, calling him an embarrassment to the state, involved in "sodomy scandals." Eh, really? Allen made Merrill out to be a Catholic priest in a diocese full of choir boys.
Look, we all read Cesaire McPherson's tell-all article. Do you actually believe those sordid details? This may not sit well with some females, and I really don't care, but there is no more vengeful creature than a jilted female. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Take what she said with a grain of salt.
Let us not forget what type of woman Miss McPherson is. Only two months after making these scandalous remarks about John Merrill, she was arrested for domestic violence. Yeah, so draw your own conclusions about her integrity.
Allen further blasted Merrill over his business ties to China and meetings with Democratic leaders, saying, "Unfortunately, it is not surprising that a man whose time in office was marked by obscene sodomy scandals and repeated lies to the people he was elected to serve would not hesitate to press send on a false statement. It is not shocking that a man who, as Alabama’s Republican Secretary of State, traveled to have his picture taken with the leftist radical Bernie Sanders and to visit Russia and China, would go to desperate lengths to defend a liberal organization, the Electronic Registration Information Center. It is not out of character for a man who used his office in our state Capitol to hold video calls with government officials from the People’s Republic of China to craft false propaganda while most of us are spending our day in worship.”
Being the smooth politician that he is, and I don't mean that negatively, John Merrill clipped Allen's wings. I can only imagine Mr. Merrill saying, "Hey, watch this."
He acknowledged his indiscretions,pivoted to how his relationship with his savior has helped him repair the damage he caused in his relationships and point it out that he did not attack Allen's character he only defended himself. Yeah.....
The elegant prose of the letter he penned stopped Allen in his tracks, effectively silencing him and leaving Allen with egg on his face. By taking the high road, John Merrill became the bigger man. Allen's decision to bring up the past has left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of voters. You should see some of the emails I've gotten.
How this will play out in 2 years I can't say. But I bet inside the campaign staff of team Merrill, they were on their feet high-fiving after the crickets from Wes Allen, and I can see John Merrill smiling like the Cheshire Cat.
Christopher M Peeks
Reporter and C
olumnist
Alabama Political Contributor
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