Campaign trail for Saturday, June 12

With logo and mug of John Nutting…

Nutting gets strong primary victory

John Nutting, a Leeds dairy farmer and state Senate District 17 candidate, won the Democratic primary by a large margin Tuesday, defeating Ed Madden of Lisbon Falls.

A former state senator and representative, Nutting won 1,371 to 332, garnering about 80 percent of the vote. “I was blown away by that,” Nutting said. “I thought my biggest problem would be apathy. I was concerned people wouldn’t go vote.”

Nutting credited 121 volunteers, who helped with mailings and phone calls urging voters in the 10-town district to vote. Being challenged in the primary forced his campaign to get organized early, Nutting said. In November his top issues will be property tax relief, implementing the state’s Dirigo health plan, and jobs.

He now faces Republican Jim Simones, who was not challenged in the primary. Simones has not served in the Legislature before, but is active in his community and well-known as the owner of Simones’ restaurant in Lewiston, a spot where high-ranking politicians often pay homage when campaigning.

In Oxford County’s Senate District 13 Republican primary, David Hastings III emerged as the winner over Caldwell Jackson. Hastings received 1,426 votes and Jackson received 1,239. Senate District 13 includes the towns of Oxford, Paris, Norway, Naples and Bridgton. Hastings is a lawyer, has always lived in Fryeburg, and has served on the local school board.

Hastings will face Democrat Marjorie Medd of Norway in November.

Voter turnout was 19 percent

Election workers at the polls Tuesday were right about low voter turnout. Based on preliminary information, turnout was just 19 percent of the voting-age population of Maine, according to Doug Dunbar of the secretary of state’s office.

The figure was similar to turnout in the June 2002 election, Dunbar said. The number of eligible voters in Maine is 1.01 million; the number of registered voters is 957,513. Of those, 365,917 are unenrolled, 297,855 are Democrats, 274,737 are Republicans and 19,004 are Green Independents.

Bear referendum backers release unsettling’ video

Maine Citizens for Fair Bear Hunting released a video on Wednesday of a bears being shot and killed by hunters. The video shows bears that had been trapped and were trying to scramble away, but can’t, as hunters approach.

The bears scream as they are shot from within 20 feet, said Robert Fisk of the Maine Citizens for Fair Bear Hunting. The footage is “unsettling,” he said. The video also shows bears being baited and shot by hunters in trees.

Most of the film involves black bear hunting in Maine. The film was provided by hunters who were involved in the hunts but are now members of the group Hunters for Fair Bear Hunting. Fisk said they are ashamed of that kind of hunting “and feel it’s cruel and demeaning to the Maine hunting tradition.”

The video will be used as an educational tool for community talks, he said. The group also has printed information it will distribute about the coming November referendum. The referendum asks: “Do you want to make it a crime to hunt bears with bait, traps or dogs, except to protect property, public safety or for research?”

The group’s Web site is: www.fairbearhunting.org.

By staff writer Bonnie Washuk.