As the Republican Party Convention got under way at the Augusta Civic Center Friday, GOP party Chair Kathy Watson predicted 2004 will be a banner year. “We will keep the White House, gain two seats in Congress and bring fiscal sanity to the State House by putting Republicans in control,” she said in a press release.

Control of the Legislature will be shifted to Republicans, she said, because “Mainers are smart people” who have been “suffering under 30 years of reckless fiscal policies.” All that begins, she said, at the convention.

Watson made her predictions, she said, based on the successes of the past year for Republicans, including:

• Republican mayors elected in what are traditionally Democratic areas, including Biddeford, Westbrook and Waterville.

• Republican lawmakers who united and proposed a state constitutional amendment to provide tax relief.

• Republican state lawmakers blocking tax increases proposed by Democrats.

• And nationally, passage of President Bush’s tax cuts have turned the economy around; the work in Iraq combatting global terrorism; and work done on the domestic front.

Snowe marks 25 years in Congress

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, considered among the most prominent, powerful Republicans in the country, was honored at Maine’s GOP convention for her 25 years in Congress. After serving in the state House and Senate, Snowe was elected to the U.S. House in 1978 at the age of 31. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994, becoming only the second women to represent Maine there.

Snowe was born in Augusta and raised in Auburn by her aunt and uncle, Mary and the late James Goranites. She graduated from Edward Little High School and the University of Maine. Snowe was dubbed “Queen of the Hill” in Chris Potholm’s book, “An Insider’s Guide to Maine Politics” for her being “the winningest candidate in recent history.” She’ll address the convention Saturday.

Opposition to Question 1 mounts

Common Sense for Maine Taxpayers, a statewide taxpayer organization formed last year, has announced its opposition to Question 1 on the June 8 ballot, which seeks to force the state to pay a greater portion of local education costs.

Steven Scharf is the CSMT interim chairman and a Republican seeking a House seat representing Portland. The proposal, he said, will “raise state taxes with no guarantee that local communities will lower their taxes.” That is bad fiscal policy and should be rejected by voters, Scharf said.

CSMT can be reached at P.O. Box 1407, Gray, ME, 04039-1407; by phone at 207-774-9393; e-mail: [email protected]; and on the Web at: http://www.MaineTaxpayer.Com.

In addition, a number of social service organizations and business leaders will join Gov. John Baldacci Monday in announcing why they’re against Question 1.

The group will include representatives from the Portland Chamber of Commerce, the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, the Maine Children’s Alliance, the Maine Pulp and Paper Association and the Maine Health Care Association (nursing homes). The announcement will be made at 2:30 p.m. at the Portland chamber.

Hamel meets Cheney

Brian Hamel met with Vice President Richard Cheney last week. Hamel is running unopposed in the Republican primary for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District seat.

Cheney was in Maine on Monday, flying into Bangor International Airport, where he met with GOP leaders. He also attended a rally at which roughly 300 supporters turned out.

Hamel was one of about seven people to meet personally with Cheney during the visit, according to Ric Tyler, Hamel’s press spokesman.

“In our meeting, we talked about the successful redevelopment of Loring Air Force Base,” Hamel said in a written statement afterward.

“He was quite familiar with our work and how, 10 years after, the region clearly understands how it is benefiting from a more diverse economy.”

– Compiled by staff writers Bonnie Washuk and Christopher Williams