LEWISTON — Maine Republicans have stepped into Lewiston’s mayoral race, creating a website designed to show just how liberal candidate Ben Chin is.
“What we are really trying to do is get the truth about Ben Chin’s positions, wanting non-citizens to vote, his liberal tax-and-spend policies and big, bloated welfare programs,” Jason Savage, executive director of the Maine Republican Party, said. “We are interested in telling the people of Lewiston about Ben Chin’s real positions.”
Chin declined to respond Wednesday, but campaign manager Gen Lysen issued a written statement.
“Ben Chin is running one of the most positive campaigns Lewiston has ever seen and he has a real plan to move Lewiston forward on jobs, development and housing,” she wrote. “Lewiston needs new energy and a mayor who will help build a better reputation, not more negative attacks.”
The Tumblr blog, realbenchin.tumblr.com, has one entry created on Monday, quoting from a Nov. 1, 2010, Bangor Daily News story. The story announces a debate between Chin, the political director for the liberal Maine People’s Alliance, versus Maine Tea Party Patriots coordinator Andrew Ian Dodge about letting non-citizens vote in local elections.
The city of Portland was considering that measure and Chin argued in favor of allowing non-citizens to vote.
The blog features a black-and-white photo of Chin and a color photo of a California Occupy protest.
“We used that picture because the Maine People’s Alliance and Ben Chin supported the Occupy movement,” Savage said. “That protest really got out of hand, and there was tear gas and bright lights. But it’s really symbolic of Ben Chin’s radical liberal beliefs and the protest movement he supported.”
The blog was not created at the behest of any single candidate, Savage said.
Chin faces three Republicans in the race — Luke Jensen, Steve Morgan and Mayor Robert Macdonald.
Savage said the blog was not created to counter Chin’s political organization. As of July 1, Chin had raised more than $33,000 for his campaign, more than every candidate in both Lewiston and Auburn raised in 2013’s campaign.
“We know he has big donors of out-of-state support and that should be a factor in how people look at his candidacy,” Savage said. “But we wanted to get the truth out about Ben Chin’s positions.”
Financial filings for all the candidates are due Oct. 23.
Lewiston mayoral coverage
Benjamin Chin, Luke Jensen, Robert Macdonald, Steve Morgan and Charles Soule are running for Lewiston mayor on Nov. 3, 2015. Learn about more candidates and issues in our Election 2015 guide.
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