Staff with the state’s ethics commission is recommending an investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office into the alleged misuse of public campaign finance funds by State Rep. David R. Burns, R-Alfred. According to meeting materials released Friday, a random audit of candidates using the Maine Clean Election Fund showed that Burns spent approximately $2,500 […]
Maine Legislature
Posted inLocal & State
In the cross hairs, MaineHousing chief fires back, calls ‘misinformation’ ‘reckless’
AUGUSTA — After several weeks of public build-up, a Portland public housing project on Tuesday found itself in the political cross hairs at the Maine State Housing Authority’s monthly board meeting. As the tense meeting at MaineHousing’s Water Street headquarters unfolded in front of television cameras and other media — some alerted in advance by […]
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How hard will Maine GOP push voter ID?
AUGUSTA — When Mainers voted last week to overturn the Legislature’s repeal of Election Day registration, the state’s voting rights debate shifted immediately to LD 199. The bill, held over from last session, would require voters to show photo identification at the polls. The measure had more than 80 Republican co-sponsors, support that would seem […]
Posted inLocal & State, Op-Eds
Political Pulse: Election Day leftovers
Nuggets from the notebook found while sifting through the Election Day detritus … The fastest-emerging narrative following Mainers’ resounding vote to uphold Election Day registration was that the decisive margin signaled a rejection of initiatives advanced by the Republican-controlled Legislature. “It demonstrates clearly (that voters) are frustrated with Republican leadership in Augusta,” Democratic Party Chairman […]
Posted inLocal & State
“We spoke with one voice:” Mainers vote to keep Election Day registration
LEWISTON — After several months of bizarre twists and turns, the battle over Election Day registration is over. The coalition that sought to restore Maine’s 38-year-old election law on Tuesday successfully beat back the Republican Legislature’s efforts to repeal it. And it wasn’t close. The Associated Press called the race for the Yes on 1 […]
Posted inLocal & State
Webster says gay rights group ad designed to educate voters
The chairman of the Maine Republican Party is defending a print advertisement that singles out a gay rights’ group’s involvement in the effort to retain Election Day registration. GOP Chairman Charlie Webster said the ad, which was circulated by more than 25 community newspapers, was designed to “educate” the public about EqualityMaine, one of the […]
Posted inLocal & State
Maine clean elections on the precipice: Program has flaws, but what happens without it?
Last year, John Nutting, a Leeds Democrat, eyed a fourth consecutive term in the state Senate. Nutting, who had used Maine’s publicly financed clean elections campaign system in 2008 and 2006, decided in 2010 to run as a traditional, privately financed candidate. Strategists in the Maine Republican Party immediately took note. In their view, Nutting’s […]
Posted inLocal & State
Election Day registration opponents take heat for TV spot
Secure Maine’s Ballot, which is urging a no vote on Question 1, released a 15-second spot Tuesday that aired on local television stations. Critics say the ad follows a pattern of same-day registration opponents’ attempts to confuse voters and raise doubts about a law that’s been on the books for nearly 40 years. A yes […]
Posted inLocal & State
It’s official: Raye eyeing run at Michaud in 2012
AUGUSTA — In a move that many in Augusta anticipated, Maine Senate President Kevin Raye, R-Perry, announced today he is exploring a run for Congress. Raye, who is termed out of the Senate next year, would take on U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, in the 2nd Congressional District. The two squared off in 2002, with […]
Posted inLocal & State
LURC reform panel shows little progress
AUGUSTA — The commission charged with reforming the state agency overseeing development in Maine’s 10.5 million acres of unorganized territory gave its first progress report Thursday to the Legislature’s Agricultural Committee. A summary of the report: The commission has a lot of work to do. So much, in fact, that one member, Gary Lamb, said […]