Sen. Olympia Snowe’s announcement that she won’t seek re-election to a fourth term in the U.S. Senate was a shocker, but not so paralyzing that potential candidates were frozen in place.
Quite the contrary.
The rush to file petition papers was so speedy, it’s a wonder the hopefuls weren’t crashing into each other at the Secretary of State’s Office.
As we reported Thursday, the frenzy was dominated by Democrats, most of whom — before Snowe’s Tuesday afternoon announcement — believed the senior senator from Maine was unbeatable.
We believe she was, too.
The filing free-for-all isn’t totally centered on Snowe’s Senate seat, though.
Great focus has fallen on Maine’s two seats in the House of Representatives.
As of Thursday afternoon, four candidates anticipating that Rep. Michael Michaud would show interest in the Senate — which he did until Thursday night, when he said he would not seek the seat — had filed petition papers for his 2nd Congressional District seat, including former Secretary of State Matt Dunlap (who is also running for Snowe’s Senate seat) and former state Sen. Bruce Bryant of Dixfield.
Of the four, three are Democrats and one is Republican.
There is greater interest in the 1st Congressional District seat, held by Rep. Chellie Pingree. First elected to Congress in 2008, Pingree has filed petition papers for the open Senate seat and, since Tuesday, nine candidates have confirmed their interest in Pingree’s seat, including state Sen. Cynthia Dill, who had already declared she would seek the U.S. Senate seat.
Of the nine so far considering the 1st District race, six are Democrats and three are Republicans.
If Pingree abandons the grip on her seat in the House for a run at the Senate, we Mainers are looking at the very real possibility of turnover of two of our four congressional delegates.
In the Senate race, although there are officially only four fresh candidates right now, plus previously declared candidate Scott D’Amboise, we should expect to see more jumping in. There is serious talk from Secretary of State Charlie Summers, Senate President Kevin Raye (who is already running for the 2nd District seat) and former independent Gov. Angus King that they are all considering the Senate job.
It’s a crowded field, only 48 hours after the Snowe announcement, so it’s entirely likely it will get even more crowded.
Since U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is hard at work and busy planning her summer wedding, she’s probably relieved that she can watch this chess match from afar.
Or, as Senate/congressional candidate Dunlap suggested, this is not a chess match at all. “It’s like a glacier suddenly melted and we have a field of rocks to deal with,” he said.
It will be up to us, the voters, to distinguish the rocks from the gems.
The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and the editorial board.
We will continue updating the list of candidates as petition papers are filed. For updates, go to: http://politicalpulse.sunjournal.com/
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