FARMINGTON – State Sen. Chandler Woodcock took one step closer to gubernatorial candidacy Wednesday when he took out papers in preparation for a formal announcement.
Woodcock, a teacher, did not want to discuss particular details about his candidacy Wednesday night. He said all of that will be addressed next week when he officially declares that he is a candidate.
Now that Peter Cianchette has dropped out of the race for Maine’s Republican gubernatorial nomination, more candidates are weighing their options, more than a year in advance of the 2006 election.
But Woodcock said on Wednesday that Cianchette’s departure from the race did not affect his decision as he pondered a run for the Blaine House.
“I made up my mind last Friday,” Woodcock said. “Mr. Cianchette’s withdrawal had nothing to do with my decision to run.”
For the past five years, the Farmington Republican senator has represented District 18, formerly District 17.
Woodcock has served as the assistant minority leader in the Senate and as a member of the Legislative Council, the 10-member governing board of the Legislature.
Woodcock currently serves on the Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Conduct and Ethics Committee.
He received the National Audubon Society’s Champions Award in 2002 and has a 94 percent career rating from the Maine Economic Research Institute.
Woodcock has taught at Livermore Falls, Mt. Blue and Skowhegan high schools. He received a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of Maine at Farmington.
Woodcock led the Mt. Blue girls’ basketball team to consecutive state championships in 1999 and 2000. A veteran, he served with the Army in Vietnam. Woodcock lives in Farmington with his wife, Charlotte. They have three daughters and one son.
The governor’s race is expected to heat up since Cianchette, the 2002 GOP gubernatorial nominee, announced earlier this week that he was withdrawing his candidacy.
State Sen. Peter Mills of Cornville, who has announced his candidacy and has been campaigning in earnest for weeks, said he expects to see competition from fellow Republicans.
Former U.S. Rep. David Emery, who dropped out of the GOP race when Cianchette got in, now says he’s keeping his options open. Also not ruling out runs are GOP state Reps. Darlene Curley of Scarborough and David Trahan of Waldoboro.
Stephen Stimpson, a concession-stand operator from Bangor who is seeking public funding in the 2006 governor’s race, is neither well-known nor considered a serious primary challenger.
Former state Senate President Richard Bennett of Norway, who was pondering a run until August, has said he’s out of the race. Both of Maine’s U.S. senators, Olympia Snowe, who is seeking re-election to her Senate seat next year, and Susan Collins, said through aides they are not running.
An independent, Nancy Oden, is seeking to qualify as a publicly funded candidate, as is Republican Mills.
Baldacci intends to seek a second term.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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