AUGUSTA, Maine — Democrat Libby Mitchell has the most cash on hand as Maine’s open race for governor, now down to five contestants, enters its final months, new campaign finance reports show.
Mitchell, who has the only campaign that is receiving public funding, had more than $506,000 in cash July 13, at the close of the last reporting period, according to her filing with the state Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices....
Mitchell, the state Senate president whose campaign qualified for funding under the Maine Clean Election Act, will be limited to a maximum of $1.2 million for the general election, no matter how much her rivals raise, according to the Ethics Commission. How much her campaign receives up to that amount depends on how much the other candidates spend and how much money is spent on independent advertising aimed at defeating her....
Related: Around New England: Cleaning Up in Maine
You missed a spot.
The disparity in cash does not necessarily reflect the campaigns’ potential to raise more funds before the Nov. 2 general election. Independent Eliot Cutler reported $67,000 in cash, but has already spent more than $800,000 for the general election, figures show. The reports were due before midnight Tuesday.
And former Democrat."
“We have a very aggressive fund-raising plan’’ that includes online as well as direct mail appeals, meet-and-greets, and other public events, Cutler campaign spokesman Ted O’Meara said yesterday. Campaign funding will be competitive with that of the two major-party candidates, O’Meara added....
The other two independents, Shawn Moody and Kevin Scott, reported $353,000 and $3,170 in cash respectively....
Sometimes I think you should vote the least money.
Republican Paul LePage, the Waterville mayor, reported more than $260,000 in cash, and led the other privately funded candidates with $179,000 in donations during the most recent reporting period, which covered May 26 to July 13. He also has some high-profile fund-raising events planned, including a coastal whistle-stop run dubbed the “LePage Express’’ Saturday aboard the Maine Eastern Railroad. Donors riding in the coach will pay $100 each, while those riding in the exclusive Parlor Car will pony up $750 for a seat....
Tea already gone cold.
Reports also give a complete picture of preprimary spending. Republican Les Otten turned out to be the biggest spender in both gubernatorial primaries, putting $2.7 million, including a $2.2 million loan from himself, into the race. Otten finished second in GOP balloting, even though he outspent LePage almost 20 to 1....
When the TEA was PIPING HOT!
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FLASHBACK:
"In Maine, ex-rivals back LePage" by Glenn Adams, Associated Press | June 17, 2010
WATERVILLE, Maine — In a hand-clasping show of party unity, all six primary rivals of Paul LePage, Maine’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, pledged their support yesterday for the conservative in November’s election.
Related:
"Observers say the field of seven candidates and a tax overhaul referendum drew Republicans. They also say winner Paul LePage, a favorite of the Tea Party movement, turned out a big vote. Dan Billings, a Republican political consultant, told the Portland Press Herald that LePage drew many people to the polls who wouldn’t normally vote in a primary."
Also see: Around New England: Sunday Morning Tea in Maine
Yeah, pour me another cup.
The former candidates were joined by party leaders and more than 100 supporters in front of the red-brick City Hall in Waterville, where LePage is mayor. In a show of solidarity, they clasped hands and raised them before the cheering supporters.
LePage, whose 38 percent showing in the seven-man race last week stunned political observers as well as LePage himself, faces the Democratic nominee, Elizabeth “Libby’’ Mitchell, and three independents in the general election for the seat being vacated by two-term Governor John E. Baldacci, a Democrat....
Josh Tardy of Newport, the House GOP leader and one of several party officials who attended the event, and others said a shifting tide of public opinion in Maine, where Democrats have held legislative majorities for years and a Republican has not been governor since the mid-’90s, will propel LePage to victory. But they distanced themselves from the Tea Party movement, which LePage courted before the primary.
“It was not a tea party victory,’’ said Charles Webster, state GOP chairman.
He said LePage was swept to victory with the help of Republican voters who were eager to repeal a tax-overhaul law that also was on the June 8 ballot. The law was repealed.
LePage’s compelling personal story of his homeless and disadvantaged youth also won over voters, Webster said....
Arden Manning, Democratic Party campaign manager, labeled LePage “a far right-wing candidate’’ whose nomination is dividing Republicans....
When they start using that kind of language you know you MUST be doing SOMETHING RIGHT!!
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Just a big game, isn't it?
