By Dan Horn, Sharon Coolidge and Cindi Andrews
Enquirer staff writers

This week should have been a high point of Mike Allen's political career.

He was supposed to be at the Republican National Convention in New York, rubbing elbows with powerful politicians from Ohio and around the country. Some day soon, he hoped to count himself among those elites.

He'd already won a top job with the Bush-Cheney campaign as its Southwest Ohio chairman, and his high profile as Hamilton County prosecutor had made him a possible candidate for statewide office.

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But instead of celebrating a bright future in New York, Allen is back in Cincinnati fighting for political survival.

His admission Wednesday that he had a 31/2-year affair with an employee - who claims Allen coerced her into sex - has put a thriving political career on life support.

It also has thrown the future of the prosecutor's office into doubt less than three months before Allen, who is running unopposed in the Nov. 2 election, was set to begin his second four-year term.

For the first time since he took the job in 1999, it's unclear whether he will continue to lead an office that traditionally wields more legal and political power than any other in the county.

"His effectiveness is hurt by this," said Gene Beaupre, a political science professor at Xavier University. "That's an incredibly powerful position. There's an enormous public trust there."

That trust is why Allen's career is in jeopardy.

Technically, he's in little danger of losing his job.

It's too late for Democrats to put an opponent on the ballot, and a write-in candidate would be hard-pressed to beat Allen.

That's especially true given the $250,000 Allen has raised for his campaign.

But it's likely the job of Hamilton County prosecutor is too important to the community - and to the Republican Party that has controlled the post for decades - to remain for long in the hands of a man mired in a political scandal.

The prosecutor decides who is charged with crimes and who isn't. He sets the legal and, to some extent, the moral agenda for the community. And his political clout can make or break the careers of judges and other politicians.

That power is why the public and the political establishment must have confidence in the person who holds the job, and why they could pressure Allen to step down if the scandal worsens.

Allen's reputation has taken several hits since the scandal broke Wednesday. He gave up the plum job with the Bush-Cheney campaign and he looked on helplessly as long-time allies either ducked questions about him or threw him mostly lukewarm support.

Some of his employees have complained of low morale in the office, and a senior judge and fellow Republican, Judge Robert Ruehlman, has called for his resignation.

"His conduct was outrageous," Ruehlman said. "A person in a position of power cannot have sexual relations with an employee."

Career built on values

The criticism likely will hang over Allen for months as he and his accuser, assistant prosecutor Rebecca Collins, continue to trade legal briefs and accusations as part of her sexual harassment lawsuit.

An ability to lead is important in any elected office, but prosecutors often face more scrutiny. The reason is simple: If they are enforcing laws and encouraging good moral behavior, voters usually expect them to practice what they preach.

"In a prosecutor's office, it helps to have a little moral authority," said Daniel Breyer, the chief assistant prosecutor in Clermont County and a former assistant in Hamilton County. "It's good to be considered a strong, moral individual.

"Will this impact Mike's ability to be prosecutor? Only time will tell."

Allen's friends are convinced he can continue despite the scandal. They say his two decades of public service - as a police officer, judge and prosecutor - have earned him a second chance.

"Look at the lifetime of public service. Look at the track record," said Karl Kadon, a longtime friend and the chief assistant prosecutor in Allen's office. "I challenge anyone to criticize his record of law enforcement and for making this community safer.

"I don't think anybody could have done a better job."

Allen has not commented on the scandal since Wednesday and did not return calls seeking an interview. His lawyer, Michael Hawkins, said Allen denies Collins' harassment claims and has no intention of resigning.

But Collins' accusations go beyond just an affair. She claims Allen used his position of power to coerce her into a relationship and that he routinely had sex with her in his office when they were supposed to be doing their jobs.

That's a problem not only because it's embarrassing - and possibly illegal - but also because it contradicts the ethics and family values that Allen has made a cornerstone of his career.

Hometown West-sider

Raised on Cincinnati's conservative West Side, Allen's views were formed through his Catholic upbringing, a career in law enforcement and his education at Elder High School.

Allen's office features a framed painting of a purple panther - the Elder mascot - and his walls are dotted with photos of him with Republican icons like Bob Dole, Jack Kemp and former President George H.W. Bush.

His wife, Municipal Judge Lisa Allen, and his two children have also played a large role in his public life. "She's my closest adviser, politically and otherwise," Allen once said of his wife.

He still attends Elder football games and is recognized throughout the West Side not only as prosecutor, but also as a hometown boy.

Many see him as a regular guy who worked hard, spent three years as a Cincinnati cop, put himself through law school and then paid his dues in the cutthroat world of county politics. Unlike some politicians, Allen wasn't born with a name that could get him elected. He made his own.

And he's done it, in large part, by speaking his mind and taking sides on big issues.

He's expressed moral outrage over Bill Clinton's sex scandal, Larry Flynt's pornographic videos and the Catholic Church's handling of abusive priests.

"Catholic beliefs are ingrained in me," he said last year. "I believe that the teachings of the church are things that don't change at every whim."

Whether words like that come back to haunt him now is unclear, but Allen says the scandal will not change the way he does his job.

So far, many of his supporters are taking a wait-and-see approach.

"We all make mistakes," said Phil Burress, who supports Allen and has frequent contact with his office as head of Citizens for Community Values, an anti-pornography group. "If Mike Allen sees he can't get his job done because of these allegations, true or untrue, he will make the right choice."

Allen digs in

For now, at least, Allen believes the right thing is to stay.

He fought hard to get the job and he's hinted on several occasions that his ambitions do not end with the prosecutor's office.

He said last year he'd consider a run for lieutenant governor in 2006, and he once described the post of attorney general as "a job I'd love to have someday."

Some close to the prosecutor's office have complained, though rarely publicly, that Allen's interest in his next job may have caused him to lose focus on his current job. They also have suggested that Allen's ambition came with an arrogance that led to the demotion or departure of several good attorneys from his office.

"There are morale problems in that office. It's at its lowest," said Ruehlman, who was an assistant prosecutor before becoming a judge more than a decade ago. "He has destroyed this office. It's terrible."

Breyer's brother, William, worked for years as head of the prosecutor's appellate division but took early retirement soon after Allen moved into the top job.

Daniel Breyer would not say why his brother left but believes he would still be there if not for Allen. William Breyer did not return calls seeking comment.

"I have no doubt that if there was someone else in that main chair, there would be more good people working there, including my brother," Breyer said.

Kadon won't discuss office politics, but he said he has full confidence in Allen as a leader and a person. He doesn't expect the sexual harassment scandal to change that opinion.

"I've known Mike for 20 years, and in that time I've never seen him do a single wrong thing," Kadon said.

Allen's political survival probably depends on whether the reputation he's earned in the community over the past two decades can endure the pummeling it's taking.

But even re-election this fall will not save his career or his political future if he is no longer able to function effectively as a prosecutor.

Friends and enemies agree on one thing: Allen is a fighter who won't give up his job unless he believes he has no other choice.

"You never throw in the towel," Allen said five years ago, soon after he took over as prosecutor. "At the end of the day, anything can happen."

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E-mail dhorn@enquirer.com, scoolidge@enquirer.com, candrews@enquirer.com