ME: University Paper Profiles Independent Candidate for Governor Alex Hammer

From the Maine Campus:

Alex Hammer, an independent candidate in the November 2010 Maine gubernatorial election, is not new to the race for Maine’s top executive position. He hopes his campaign will go better this time around. In November 2005, two weeks after his announcement for candidacy for the 2006 election, he was hit by a pickup truck in his home city of Bangor. He spent 29 days in the hospital and was in physical therapy for almost a year and a half. The accident, he said, ended his campaign before it really started. Hammer said he used the time to prepare for another run for the Blaine House. “I’ve spoken to thousands of Mainers over the past three or four years. I’ve spoken to probably 50 or 100 legislators. I’ve spoken to business and political leaders across the state,” Hammer said. These conversations led him to draw his own conclusions about Maine’s state of affairs in the state. “I think Maine is doing poorly,” Hammer said. He said that he has sensed a general frustration in the Maine people with regard to state government. Education is “paramount” to Maine’s economic future, Hammer said, and the University of Maine system is achieving mixed results.