NEW PORTLAND – Garrison (Garry) Cupples, a New Portland Democrat, announced that he is a Maine Clean Elections Democratic candidate for House District 88.

Cupples was born in Arkansas and attended schools in Iowa, before serving in the U.S. Army Security Agency in Germany. He graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in German. He received a Diploma in Education from Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Quebec. He and his wife, Carol Cupples, are both French teachers in Maine. They have two children and four grandchildren.

The Cupples have chosen to live and work in Maine for the past 10 years, according to a statement issued Monday. “As an educator, Cupples knows the vital importance of being a good listener. He will listen to and respond to the concerns of the citizens of the district,” it said. In addition to education issues, he will be especially interested in promoting new “green collar” alternative energy jobs in the district, the statement said.

The district includes the towns of Anson, Bingham, Caratunk, Carrabassett Valley, Embden, Jackman, Moose River, Moscow, New Portland, and Wellington; the plantations of Brighton, Coplin, Dennistown, Highland, Pleasant Ridge, The Forks and West Forks; and the unorganized territories of Concord, Lexington, Wyman Township, NE Somerset (including Rockwood Strip), NW Somerset and Seboomook Lake.

More information and updates regarding the 2008 campaign may be found on the Web sites: www.somersetcountydems.org and www.mainedems.org.