In a recent letter, Rep. Richard Mailhot commented about the concluded campaign.
Mailhot complained about unfair campaigning by Republicans trying to unseat Democrats. ‘They used misleading votes, misleading issues.”
What does he define as “unfair campaigning”? What is a “misleading vote”? What is a “misleading issue”?
All my campaign ads were well researched and supported by documentation. Mailhot, who made the outrageous claim “there is no state budget deficit” in a forum, should provide documentation to support his assertions. Although the campaign is over, it appears that Mailhot wants to keep it going.
Aside from getting our “fair share” and “standing up for Lewiston,” my Democrat opponent raised the following issues:
That I was 54 and able to retire. What does that have to do with a state Senate race?
That I favored privatization of Social Security. What does that have to do with a state Senate race?
That I misrepresented her vote on the Workers Comp stacking bill (LD 2202). People familiar with that bill will say that the key vote in that process was on the amendment sponsored by Sen. Mike Michaud that went down to defeat by one vote. My opponent supported Michaud on that bill-gutting amendment. The amendment was the key indicator of support for stacking.
My campaign for the state Senate consisted of four elements: newspapers, cable television, direct mail and knocking on thousands of doors. There wasn’t one shred of misrepresentation in my campaign.
I lost because 70 percent of the voters decided that the Democrat would represent their interests better than I would. They embraced the Mailhot message that the Democrats are the “party of the people.” They rejected my message that our taxes are too high, our state’s spending is out of control and that we need to provide more job opportunities for our young people.
I respect the decision of seven out of 10 Lewiston voters and it sounds like Democrats have a mandate to work their “magic” in Augusta.
As the old saying goes, “People get the government they deserve.”
Bob Stone, Lewiston
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