PORTLAND (AP) – Five gubernatorial candidates took part in a fast-paced, wide-ranging debate Tuesday that covered issues ranging from the Taxpayer Bill of Rights to health care to abortion. It even contained a surprising admission from one candidate who confessed to train-hopping when he was younger.

Republican Chandler Woodcock promoted TABOR as a tool for slowing down state spending, Green Independent Pat LaMarche pressed the case for a single-payer universal health care system, and independent Barbara Merrill decried partisanship and promised to work with both parties.

Democratic Gov. John Baldacci touted his success in balancing the budget without raising taxes, and he said more time is needed for his Dirigo health plan to reach its potential. “What you’ve got is a work in progress,” Baldacci said.

Independent Phillip Morris NaPier vowed to abolish the state income tax, which he said was unfair because it overlooks out-of-staters and people who work “under the table.”

The debate, sponsored by WMTW-TV, the Portland Press Herald and the Society of Professional Journalists, was billed as Maine’s first online debate. The full 90-minute debate at the University of Southern Maine was streamed on WMTW’s Web site.

During the debate, Woodcock and NaPier vowed support for TABOR, which would limit state and local spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth. Voter approval also would be required for all tax and fee increases.

LaMarche said TABOR would not be necessary if people simply elected public officials who’d keep spending in check. “If your representatives are not representing you, it’s time to get a new one. That’s a better way of doing it,” she said.

Merrill and Baldacci also opposed TABOR, but Merrill said Baldacci and the Legislature shoulder the blame for TABOR’s popularity for failing to address high taxes after Mainers voted down a California-style property tax cap in 2004.

The Legislature responded by enacting a law that was supposed to create property tax relief by increasing the level of state spending on schools. Critics say the law, known as LD 1, has failed to live up to its billing.

“Governor Baldacci and the Legislature completely let the people down with the piece of legislation adopted two years ago,” she said.

Baldacci also was taken to task over his Pine Tree Zones established to help impoverished areas of the state. He said they helped lure Oxford Aviation and 200 jobs to Sanford and a T-Mobile call center that employs hundreds in Oakland.

But Woodcock said the Pine Tree Zones give an unfair advantage to some communities and give preferential treatment to new companies over established companies.

All parts of the state should have an equal opportunity, he said. “I don’t think an advantage should be given to one company over another,” he added.

Woodcock did not shy away from questions about abortion. If the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade, he said he would sign a bill banning abortions except in the cases of rape, incest or a threat to the life of the mother.

Woodcock also said he had no plans to press the issue himself. “It’s not my intention to submit legislation,” he said.

LaMarche promised to look to other states and countries and to use the best ideas. As part of her energy discussion, she said she’d like to try an idea in Ohio where community-based energy programs encourage municipalities to get off the grid.

She also proposed imposing a water extraction fee on Poland Spring and using that money to invest in higher education. Merrill and NaPier also favored a water extraction fee, while Baldacci and Woodcock opposed it.

NaPier, who uses the monicker “Thu People’s Hero,” threatened to steal the show at times. He talked about attending a one-room school house, and on the topic of Maine’s high obesity rate he mentioned being inspired by a yoga program he saw on TV.

NaPier said he didn’t know much about the Pine Tree Zones, but he had his own thoughts about passenger rail travel. He said passenger trains should travel during daylight hours, not at night, so tourists could enjoy Maine’s beauty.

He also had a surprising admission about traveling on trains. “My daddy was a railroad engineer … and I hopped a few trains in my days,” he said.