A check of the driving records of the 10 candidates in the Democratic and Republican primaries for Maine’s U.S. Senate seat shows many may be lead-footed.
While all have valid driver’s licenses, several in the race for retiring Sen. Olympia Snowe’s seat have been tagged a time or two for speeding in the past 10 years.
The six Republicans in the race have eight speeding convictions among them, while the four Democrats have three.
* Democrat Benjamin Pollard of Portland has two speeding convictions, including one in 2001 for exceeding the speed limit by 25 mph, going 50 mph in a 25-mph zone. In 2007, Pollard was convicted of going 71 mph in a 50-mph zone.
* Republican Rick Bennett of Oxford has three speeding convictions, including one for exceeding the speed limit by 27 mph in 2002, driving 62 in a 35-mph zone. Bennett also was convicted twice more in 2002 for speeding, going 74 in a 55-mph zone and 57 in a 35-mph zone.
* Maine State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin, a Republican candidate, was convicted in 2006 of traveling 61 mph in a 45-mph zone and again in 2010 for driving 44 mph in a 35-mph zone.
* Maine Secretary of State Charlie Summers, a Republican, has twice been convicted of speeding. Summers was clocked going 53 in a 35-mph zone in 2004 and 72 in a 65-mph zone in 2002.
* State Sen. Deb Plowman, R-Hampden, has one speeding conviction on her 10-year record. In 2009 Plowman was clocked going 84 in 65-mph zone.
* State Rep. Jon Hinck, D-Portland, was convicted in 2003 of traveling 47 mph in a 30-mph zone.
* Republican Scott D’Amboise of Lisbon has the only non-speed-related convictions. In 2007, D’Amboise was convicted of failing to obey a traffic control device, and in May 2010, he was fined for failure to display a valid inspection sticker.
Three candidates had spotless 10-year records.
* Former Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap of Old Town, a Democrat, and State Sen. Cynthia Dill, D-Cape Elizabeth, have clean driving records, as does Maine Attorney General William Schneider, a Republican of Durham.
Bennett, Pollard, Plowman, Dunlap, Schneider and Summers are organ donors, according to the records. Poliquin, Dill and D’Amboise are not. Hinck’s record did not indicate whether he was an organ donor.
For biographical profiles of the 10 candidates in the U.S. Senate primary race, see the Sun Journal’s Perspective section on Sunday.
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- A check of the driving records of candidates seeking their party’s nomination to run for the U.S. Senate in Maine shows the 10 candidates have 11 driving convictions among them.
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