LEWISTON – Saying “Mike’s in for a battle,” retired Lewiston banker Bob Stone said Monday he will challenge U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud for his 2nd District seat in Congress. Stone said he is in the process of filing nomination papers with the state.

Stone, 55, retired as vice president from United Kingfield Bank last year. He went on to wage an unsuccessful campaign against state Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston. In his congressional campaign, Stone said his top priorities will be to reverse the “stunning” decline of jobs in the district and support the country’s battle against terrorism.

“The war has been brought to our shores on Sept. 11,” he said. “As we move farther from Sept. 11, we forget that there is a global war on terror.”

Confident that President Bush will be re-elected, Stone said that as a Republican congressman in a Republican-controlled House, he’d “be on the same team” as the president and would be more effective than Michaud, a first-term Democrat.

Stone served as a Sabattus selectman in the 1970s. Last year, he led the fight against two tax reform referendums, saying they would raise taxes. He’s a conservative who promotes personal responsibility and dislikes welfare recipients “who sit back and live off the fat of the land.”

Stone said he supports deficit spending in some cases, such as the war in Iraq, but not for things like space exploration.

In a Sun Journal story last week about Michaud’s lack of a challenger 10 months before the election, Stone had said he was unsure if he would run, saying there wasn’t much time to mount a good campaign.

On Monday, he was upbeat, saying he could “absolutely” beat Michaud, who he called “a nice guy.”

Dwayne Bickford, executive director of the Republican Party in Maine, said he was excited that Stone is stepping into the race. “We think Congressman Michaud hasn’t represented the district well and it’s time for a change,” Bickford said, criticizing Michaud for voting against tax cuts and the Medicare drug bill.

Speaking for Michaud on Monday, press secretary Monica Castellanos said the congressman welcomes Stone’s challenge and “is very confident” in his bid for re-election.

“The congressman has worked very hard for the people of the 2nd District,” she said. She noted that Michaud was appointed to committees important to Mainers: Transportation, Small Business and Veterans Benefits, for which Michaud is the ranking member.

“Mike comes home every weekend, has staff in every county,” Castellanos said. “He’s a clear leader on trade” and continues to fight for lower drug costs, she said. “He’ll run a positive campaign on his accomplishments.”

Michaud voted against Bush’s Medicare bill, calling it “a bad deal for Maine seniors” because of gaps in coverage and because it does not allow the government to negotiate for lower prescription costs. He said he voted against tax cuts on the grounds that the wealthy will benefit the most, while the cuts increase the national deficit.

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