Frederick Allen Boyd Jr. (born June 6, 1945) is an American politician and the former United States Representative for Florida's 2nd congressional district from 1997 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He currently works for a lobbying firm, the Twenty-First Century Group.[5][6]
Allen Boyd | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 2nd district | |
| In office January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Pete Peterson |
| Succeeded by | Steve Southerland |
| Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 10th district | |
| In office November 3, 1992 – November 5, 1996 | |
| Preceded by | Hurley W. Rudd[1] |
| Succeeded by | Janegale Boyd[2] |
| Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 11th district | |
| In office January 17, 1989 – November 3, 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Gene Hodges[3] |
| Succeeded by | Randy Mackey[4] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Frederick Allen Boyd Jr. June 6, 1945 Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Cissy Roush (Divorced) Jeannie Schmoe |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Florida State University (BS) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Unit | Infantry |
| Battles/wars | Vietnam War |
Early life, education and career
editBoyd was born in Valdosta, Georgia to Margaret Elizabeth Finlayson and Frederick Allen Boyd.[7] He was educated at Florida State University, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. After graduating in 1969, Boyd served as an infantry officer in Vietnam with the United States Army.[8]
Florida House of Representatives
editBoyd first got elected after he won a special election in the 10th district after his predecessor Gene Hodges resigned on November 22, 1988.[9] He served the district from the January 17, 1989 to November 3, 1992 and the 11th district from November 3, 1992 to November 5, 1996. He retired from the House, to run for Congress. He was succeeded in the State House by Janegale Boyd, his sister-in-law.
U.S. House of Representatives
editCommittee assignments
editBoyd is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.
Political positions
editDrug War
edit- On September 25, 2001, Boyd voted for HR 2586, an amendment to set up a task force on counter-terrorism and drug interdiction and allow military personnel to help patrol U.S. borders.[10]
- On June 10, 2008, he voted for the Mérida Initiative to Combat Illicit Narcotics and Reduce Organized Crime Authorization Act, providing funding for Mexico to spend on drug prohibition related contracts. Opponents at the time complained this would increase the availability of military trained hit men to the drug cartels.[11]
Iraq War
edit- On October 10, 2002, Allen Boyd was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.
2008 financial crisis
edit- On October 3, 2008, Boyd voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.[12] He later voted against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.[13]
- On December 11, 2009, Boyd voted for the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009[14]
Health care
edit- In November 2009, Boyd voted along with 39 other Democrats against the Affordable Health Care for America Act.[15]
- On March 19, 2010, Boyd announced his support for the Health Care Reform Bill under consideration in the House and Senate.[16]
Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
edit- In April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted from an explosion on a drilling platform, killing 11 workers and leaking millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. On May 5, 2010, Boyd introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would raise the liability cap on economic damages in oil spills from $75 million to $10 billion. The legislation would alter the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which was passed after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill and requires companies to pay for all cleanup costs of spills but only up to $75 million in economic damages.[17]
- On June 14, Boyd held the Joint Oil Spill-Hurricane Planning conference at Florida State University's, Panama City campus to examine the potential threat of a Gulf of Mexico hurricane colliding with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Federal and state emergency response agencies, representatives from the Coast Guard, Air Force and Navy, and members of the local tourism industry all participated in the day-long event.[18]
- On June 11, Boyd sent a letter to the President of the United States, asking him to create a Gulf seafood safety task force to counter growing public perception that all seafood harvested in the Gulf of Mexico is contaminated by oil.[19]
Political campaigns
edit1996–2008
editBoyd entered the 1996 Democratic primary for the 2nd in 1996, after three-term Democratic incumbent Pete Peterson announced his retirement. He led a three-way Democratic primary with 48 percent of the vote, a few thousand votes short of outright victory. He then won the runoff with 64 percent of the vote and easily won the election in November. He was reelected with no major-party opposition in 1998 and defeated an underfunded Republican in 2000.
In 2002, however, the Republican-controlled state legislature significantly altered Boyd's district. Part of heavily Democratic Tallahassee, which has anchored the district since its formation in 1963 (as the 9th District; it was renumbered the 2nd in 1967) was shifted to the Jacksonville-based 3rd District. In its place, heavily Republican Panama City was shifted from the Pensacola-based 1st District to the 2nd. On paper, this made the district considerably friendlier to Republicans; Al Gore narrowly won the old 2nd in 2000, but George W. Bush would have narrowly won the district under its current boundaries. However, Boyd was handily reelected with 66 percent of the vote in 2002 against another underfunded Republican. In 2004, Boyd faced his first serious test in the form of state representative Bev Kilmer, but Boyd turned back this challenge fairly easily, taking 62 percent of the vote even as George W. Bush carried the district with 54 percent of the vote. Boyd was unopposed for reelection in 2006 and defeated a nominal Republican challenger in 2008.
2010
editIn 2010, Boyd fended off a spirited challenge in the primary from a more liberal Democrat, State Senator Al Lawson, with whom he'd served in the state house. In the general election, Boyd was defeated by Republican nominee Steve Southerland in the 2010 election, taking only 41 percent of the vote. Independent candidates Paul C. McKain and Dianne Berryhill were also on the ballot; Ray Netherwood qualified as a write-in candidate.[20]
Personal life
editBoyd is married to Jeannie Schmoe and has 3 grown children (2 sons and 1 daughter) from his previous marriage to Cissy Roush. His son John was imprisoned in 2008 for transporting illegal narcotics and illegal aliens into the United States from Mexico.[21][22][23]
Boyd is a fifth-generation farmer from Monticello, Florida and is the majority owner of Boyd Family Farms Inc. Boyd has received almost $1.3 million in federal farm subsidies since 1996, placing him in the top 3 percent of farmers receiving subsidies nationally, and 12th among more than 5,300 farms in his district that received subsidy money over this period.[24]
References
edit- ^ "Our Campaigns - FL State House 10 Race - Nov 03, 1992". www.ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - FL State House 10 Race - Nov 08, 1994". www.ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - FL State House 011 - Special Election Race - Jan 17, 1989". www.ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - FL State House 11 Race - Nov 06, 1990". www.ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ Twenty-First Century Group (2011). Former Congressman Allen Boyd Joins Twenty-First Century Group Archived 2012-03-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
- ^ Politico.com (2011). Former Blue Dogs find lobby deals. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
- ^ "boyd".
- ^ "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Archived from the original on December 15, 2006.
- ^ "The People of Lawmaking in Florida 1822 - 2010" (PDF). myfloridahouse.gov. p. 87. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 27, 2010.
- ^ "Bill Text - 107th Congress (2001-2002) - THOMAS (Library of Congress)". Thomas.loc.gov. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
- ^ "Allen Boyd on Drugs". Archive.ontheissues.org. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
- ^ "Bailout Roll Call". October 3, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- ^ "Stimulus Roll Call". January 28, 2009. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- ^ "House Roll Call #968 Details". OpenCongress. 11 December 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- ^ "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 887". clerk.house.gov. Archived from the original on November 8, 2009.
- ^ Herszenhorn, David M. (March 19, 2010). "Boyd and Bishop to Support House Bill - Prescriptions Blog - NYTimes.com". Prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
- ^ "Boyd pushes to raise BP's reimbursement | boyd, pushes, raise - News". The News Herald. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
- ^ "Boyd, officials huddle to plan for oil/storm scenario | panama, boyd, plan - News". The News Herald. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
- ^ "Blog Archive » Allen Boyd For U.S. Congress: Gulf seafood safety task force". Capital Soup. June 11, 2010. Archived from the original on June 15, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
- ^ Primary Results, The Washington Post, August 25, 2010
- ^ "Florida Congressman's Son Arrested For Smuggling Aliens | AHN". Allheadlinenews.com. September 18, 2008. Archived from the original on September 18, 2008. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
- ^ Adlerstein, David (July 21, 2021). "Meating up with the Boyds". The Star. Archived from the original on July 22, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
- ^ "Our Story". Boyd Farms Fresh. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
- ^ Boyd's farms received nearly $1.3 million in federal subsidies since 1996 Archived 2009-06-05 at the Wayback Machine NewsHerald.com May 31, 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2009.