[1] Allen first ran for office in the 2004 federal election but was defeated by incumbent Andy Savoy by a margin of 3008 votes.
However, Allen defeated Savoy in the 2006 election by a narrow margin of 254 votes.
In 2016, Allen ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.
[2] In July 2018, Allen was charged with campaign finance violations during his bid for the chairmanship of Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick, under the claim that he and his wife donated a sum of over $6,000 to his campaign, hence passing the contribution limit.
[3] In May 2019, he pleaded guilty to violations of campaign finance law, and was made to pay $10,000 in Fines.