Allen Boyd

Early life, education and career

Boyd was born in Valdosta, Georgia to Margaret Elizabeth Finlayson and Fred Allen Boyd. 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.

Florida House of Representatives

Boyd served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1989 to 1997.

Committee assignments

Boyd is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.

Drug War

Iraq War

2008 financial crisis

Health care

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

1996-2008

Boyd 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

In 2010, Boyd fended off a spirited challenge in the primary from a somewhat 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.

Personal life

Boyd is married and has 3 grown children (2 sons and 1 daughter). His son John was imprisoned in 2008 for transporting illegal narcotics and illegal aliens into the United States from Mexico. On September 30, 2009, it was announced that Boyd and his wife of 40 years, Cissy, had filed for divorce once before in 1997, but the couple reconciled. However, in 2002, a joint dismissal of the divorce filing was submitted. There is no additional information on their recent separation other than they stated it is not connected to their previous separation.

Boyd is a fifth-generation farmer from Monticello, Florida and is the majority owner of Boyd Family Farms Inc. It is currently receiving farm subsidies appropriated by the same Appropriations Subcommittee of which Boyd was a member. 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.