Good news for the adult industry. Mike Allen is done, finished, outta here and won't be putting any more innocent people behind bars as he attempted with video store owner Elyse Metcalf and did so with website proprietor Jennifer Dute.
Cincinnati- Three weeks ago, Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen was a rising star among Ohio Republicans, earning a reputation as a tough prosecutor in a populous county.
With his name recognition and political clout, he was seen as a potential candidate for Ohio lieutenant governor in 2006.
Then Allen's former mistress -- assistant prosecutor Rebecca Collins -- handed her boss a complaint, accusing him of sexually harassing her, claims she threatened to make public unless he paid her $3 million to make sure the charges never became public. When he rejected that ultimatum, she filed suit against him in federal court.
Now, with his political career in shambles, Allen won't even be re-elected prosecutor, after he instructed the Board of Elections Monday to take his name off the Nov. 2 ballot. It was a move orchestrated by the upper echelons of the Republican Party, in Hamilton County and at the state level, to force Allen out and clear the way for Ohio Treasurer Joe Deters to move from the controversy of a criminal investigation in which he was ultimately cleared back to the job he once held.
"I love the office," Deters said Monday as he filed as a write-in candidate with four others.
Allen's removal from the ballot meant that only write-in candidates are left.
"(Allen's sex scandal) was beginning to show signs of driving a strong turnout for Democrats," Deters said.
As Deters was at the Board of Elections filling out the necessary paperwork to become a qualified write-in candidate, Allen was holding a press conference to confirm he was asking his name be removed from the ballot.
It was the first time Allen has held a press conference since Aug. 25, when he beat Collins to the punch and announced he had an almost four-year extramarital affair with his female subordinate, which began in December 1999 when she was an intern.
Allen on Monday walked into the room and smiled, seeming relieved after the three-week firestorm of controversy, to announce that he would fulfill the four-year term to which he was elected in 2000, but would not continue after that term expires Jan. 2.
Allen thanked the prosecutor's 200 employees, many of whom were completely and frustratingly aware of Allen's affair with Collins but powerless to do anything about it.
"I must also thank the citizens of Hamilton County, who stood with me through some tough and controversial decisions. Then, as now, my goal was to make the best decision for the good of the entire community.
"(T)his is a most difficult decision, but it is one I feel obligated to make now, in the best interests of Hamilton County and its citizens."
The bigger picture for Deters, though, also helped him decide to literally move back Monday to Hamilton County, to step down as Ohio Treasurer if he wins the election and help Republicans and President George Bush try to seize Ohio, a crucial state in a tight presidential campaign.
"There is a genuine consensus amongst people smarter than I that this could impact the presidential race," Deters said of Allen's sex scandal.
Hamilton County Republican Party sources said that Allen's resignation wasn't the gracious move the prosecutor suggested.
Allen only resigned, two GOP sources said, after high-ranking Ohio Republican Party officials insisted he step aside for fear his scandal would damage Bush's chances. Allen, who was chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign for southwest Ohio, a position he vacated after his adulterous admissions and Collins' suit, stepped down after telephone conversations with Ohio GOP chair Bob Bennett over the weekend.
Democrats, though, scoffed at the notion that Deters enters the race with a spotless record. "They have not brought Mr. Clean in riding to the rescue," said Tim Burke, co-chair of the County Democratic Party.
Deters was investigated for 14 months after a broker who made large contributions to the Hamilton County Republican party later earned more than $1 million on commissions through deals with the treasurer's office. Deters was cleared of any wrongdoing, but the investigation did lead to the convictions of his former chief of staff and a top aide.
The probe of broker Frank Gruttadauria hit home when a Cleveland judge ruled in August that the Hamilton County GOP had to forfeit $50,000 it received from Gruttadauria because it was actually a concealed contribution to Deters' campaign for state treasurer.
"That's just the Democrats. That's their only strategy," Deters countered of a party that had no competition for Allen until two write-ins qualified Monday.
"If they had the right ideas and had a good candidate, it would be different. All they do is tear down."
Burke said the Democrats would meet, probably Sunday, to determine who they will endorse to challenge Deters
