AUGUSTA (AP) - Chellie Pingree, the former state legislator and past national president of Common Cause, got a boost Wednesday in her bid to wrest the Southern Maine Democratic congressional nomination away from a crowded field of rivals when she received the endorsement of EMILY's (Early Money Is Like Yeast) List, a national political action committee raising money for women seeking elective office. "Chellie Pingree is a strong leader who isn't afraid to make her voice heard," Ellen Malcolm, the president of EMILY's List, said in a statement.

"Her experience as a four-term legislator, an entrepreneur and president of Common Cause has amply prepared her to represent Maine's 1st District ..."

The time has come for Maine to send its first Democratic woman to Congress, someone Mainers know they can count on."

With 1st District Democratic incumbent Tom Allen challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins, multi-candidate fields of Democrats and Republicans are lining in hopes of winning the open House seat.

Besides Pingree, who lost a Senate race against Collins in 2002, Democrats expressing interest in succeeding Allen include former legislator Michael Brennan of Portland, Portland lawyer Adam Cote, York County District Attorney Mark Lawrence, who is a former state Senate president, state Sen. Ethan Strimling of Portland and Portland City Councilor Jill Duson.

On the Republican side, recently resigned federal Small Business Administration regional chief Charles Summers of Scarborough has launched a campaign for the 1st District seat and will be depending on his wife Ruth to act as his surrogate while he is on active duty in the military.

Also campaigning for the Republican congressional nomination is businessman Dean Scontras. Steve Abbott, who has been Collins' top aide in the Senate, has indicated he might run too.

Pingree served in the Maine Senate from North Haven.

"I am honored to have the support of the thousands of men and women who are members of EMILY's List," she said in the statement distributed by the organization Wednesday. "The people of Maine deserve principled leadership that will fight for what matters to them and I'm determined to give them that kind of representation in Washington."

EMILY's List, founded two decades ago, claims more than 100,000 members and boasts of having helped to elect hundreds of pro-choice Democratic women to federal office, state legislatures, state constitutional offices and other local offices.

AP-ES-08-15-07 1659EDT