Angus King plans to open new office in Lewiston-Auburn area

Shortly after taking office for his second term, independent U.S. Sen. Angus King said Friday that he plans to open his fifth Maine office in Lewiston or Auburn in the coming months.

He also said that Marge Kilkelly, who has served as a senior adviser for him in Washington since 2013, is returning to Maine to become his regional representative for Androscoggin County.

Kilkelly, a former state lawmaker from Dresden, “has dedicated her career to helping Maine people, and I know she will be a fierce advocate for men, women, and families in Androscoggin County,” the senator said in a prepared statement.

There have been a number of changes in King’s personnel in recent weeks since his longtime chief of staff, Kay Rand, decided to step down after holding the top staff position throughout King’s two terms as governor and his first six-year term in the Senate.

“Anything I have achieved in my public life has been in many ways attributable to the work of Kay Rand,” King said in a tribute on the Senate floor before Christmas.

Taking Rand’s place is Kathleen Connery Dawe, who had been King’s communications director.

Dawe, a lawyer, spent five years as communications director for former U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, now the mayor of Chicago, before taking a job with King.
Filling her former role as communications director is Matthew Felling. King said on Twitter on Friday that he “brings years of knowledge and creativity to our team.”

Felling, a former journalist, had previously worked as communications director for U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

King’s press secretary is Jeff Sobotko and Bar Harbor native Evelyn Swan is his press assistant.

Jack Faherty will serve as King’s Maine spokesman.

Kilkelly, who logged 16 years in the state Legislature, operates Dragonfly Cove Farm in Dresden with her husband, Joe Murray.

A former chair of the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee, she has also served in leadership roles with a number of nonprofit organizations, including the presidency of the New England Farmers Union.

“Her hard work in my office over the last six years has brought clarity to difficult issues,” King said, “and I am a better public servant because of her counsel.”

“As my eyes and ears in Androscoggin County, Marge will further our important work in the region and continue to build relationships that help local people and the local economy,” the senator said.

King said opening an office in the Lewiston area will “expand access for Maine people in Androscoggin County.”

The senator, who lives in Brunswick, already has offices in Scarborough, Augusta, Bangor and Presque Isle.

When King opens his office in Lewiston or Auburn, it will give the community ready access to all three of its federal lawmakers. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Lewiston Democrat, have offices in Lewiston.

scollins@sunjournal.com