ME: Greens Enter Ranked Choice Mayoral Race

From the Portland Herald, via Green Party Watch:

Shrugging off the label of electoral "spoilers," members of the Maine Green Independent Party embraced Portland's new rank choice voting system as a third-party-friendly approach to electing the city's mayor.

"I think it will encourage people to run positive campaigns, and rather than having the so-called spoiler, Ralph Nader effect, which is not true at all ... it will totally separate that, because there are no spoilers in rank choice voting," said Tom MacMillan, a Maine Green Party steering committee member who lives in the West End of Portland.

Portland this year embarks on an elected-mayor campaign that replaces a council-appointed mayor with one elected to an at-large seat. Through a city charter change, voters also will choose their next mayor through rank choice voting, where if any candidate falls short of a majority, then the "second choice" votes come into play in the tabulation.

No spoilers in ranked choice voting?

Greens Begin to Displace Republicans in Maine

From Ballot Access News:

At the November 2, 2010 election, Green Party nominees for the State House outpolled their Republican opponents in four districts. The best Green showing was in Brunswick, in the 66th district. See this pre-election story, which has an interview with all three candidates. The results were: Democratic 38.62%; Green 33.33%; Republican 28.05%. The Green nominee was K. Frederick Horch. The other districts in which Greens outpolled Republicans were the 115th, 118th, and 120th districts, all in Portland.

ME: IPR Interviews Independent State Rep. Ben Chipman

From Independent Political Report:

Two nights ago Ross Levin and I interviewed Maine’s newest Independent state legislator, Ben Chipman. This previous article has a bit of background:

Ben Chipman is a Green Party activist in Maine and was elected to the state legislature this year as an independent… Chipman has been a Green Party activist for a long time, including being an aide to Maine’s only former Green state legislator and a member of the Portland Charter Commission. He was the only Green-affiliated independent … elected to state office in the entire country this year.

We began by asking about Mr. Chipman’s campaign strategy and how he became an Independent, rather than Green, candidate. He explains that “various circumstances” came into play when it came time to file, and coupled with his late entry into the race he was unable to run as a Green. Instead, the longtime Green Party activist filed as an Independent.

He found as he began to campaign that the Independent label gained greater traction than the Green Party label had in the past. Mr Chipman explained that the Green Party had run candidates in this district in the past, but none had come closer than 400-500 votes away from victory. He began to emphasize his status as an Independent candidate in campaign literature . . .

Eliot Cutler: The Major Parties are Increasingly Irrelevant

In a post-election discussion with the Portland Press Herald, former Independent gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler has vowed to remain politically active and argues that the major parties are increasingly irrelevant.  From the Portland Press Herald:

A week after his close second-place finish in the gubernatorial race, Eliot Cutler was tight-lipped about his political future but did not rule out another run for elected office. "I don't know what I'm going to do," the independent candidate said. "I'm going to stay active politically." . . .

Cutler met with the editorial board of The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram last week for an election post-mortem. Among the things he would have changed if he could: persuade the media to pay less attention to the "horse race" and polling; end early absentee voting; persuade former Gov. Angus King to make his endorsement earlier.

Cutler said he believes the two major parties are becoming increasingly irrelevant . . .  "The parties are no longer mediating differences among people," he said. Cutler said the parties fail to serve most of their followers, but they benefit from election laws that give them an advantage over independent candidates such as himself.

Read the rest. 

Maine: The Two-Party System is On the Way Out

From Gordon Weil at Maine's Morning Sentinel:

Since 1974, when Maine began to see credible independent candidates for governor, there have been 10 gubernatorial elections in Maine. Independents ran in nine of them.

Only two were won by candidates who captured a majority of the vote. In other words, eight of the last 10 Maine governors were elected by less than half of the voters.

The two exceptions were Democrat Joseph Brennan, who faced only a Republican when he ran for re-election in 1982, and independent Angus King, who won re-election over both parties’ candidates in 1998. Both won handily.

Maine has come to expect independents running for governor. Not only was King elected twice and Jim Longley elected once, but independents have run strongly in three other elections. That means that in six of the 10 races, independents were a key factor. . . .


Maine independent candidates may be here to stay. Longley and King showed that an independent candidate provides a choice who can win. Public financing of elections, fully in effect in only Maine and Arizona, also promotes independent candidacies.

The fact that in five of the last 10 elections, independents have either won or strongly influenced the outcome could send a message to the two major parties. If the multicandidate party primaries produce the most liberal Democrat or the most conservative Republican, the results open the way for an independent.

That’s the opportunity independent Eliot Cutler thought he saw this year.

ME: Competitive Three-Way Race for Governor Leads to Calls for Runoff Elections

From a letter to the editor of the Sun Journal:

Regardless of how one feels about Paul LePage, Maine will have a governor for the next four years who 62 percent of the voters voted against. Some states have a system in which if no candidate receives a majority, there is a run-off election between the top two candidates.

As strong independent candidates seem to have become a regular part of Maine's system, it seems to be important that the state adopt that process. It would be worth the extra expense and bother in order to have a leader who can claim the support of a majority of the voters.
Scott Efland, Auburn

ME-Gov: Cutler Concedes in Close Race for Governor

From the Portland Press Herald, Eliot Cutler's Statement on Concession:

At noon today I will announce at a press conference here in Portland that I have spoken with Mayor Paul LePage and congratulated him on his victory. The results that are available to us this morning are unofficial and informal, but I believe that it is unlikely that there will be a material change in the outcome.

Although we all will await the official tabulations by the Secretary of State, I do not want to make it more difficult for Paul to assemble the team he needs to govern the State of Maine and to prepare a budget for the next biennium. In all likelihood, he will be the next governor for all the people of the State of Maine, and all of us who love the State of Maine should give him our support as he sets out on a difficult journey.

I am unendingly grateful to you for your investment in the effort we have made and your support for our vision for Maine.

I am proud of the fact that we came from literally zero to just a few thousand votes short of winning in a mere 16 months. And I am prouder still that we stuck a dagger in the heart of negative campaigning in the State of Maine, that we never ran a single negative attack ad nor made a single personal attack, that we withstood an onslaught of lies, slander and deception directed against us and that we emerge from this race with our heads held high and our integrity intact. You should be proud of your participation in this campaign, and I hope that you are, as I am. I am indebted to you and grateful to you.

ME-Gov: Independent Eliot Cutler Receives Avalanche of Endorsements

This one from the Sun Journal:

We need a practiced executive in the Blaine House, a person who has the skills and experience to be an administrator of progress. A person determined to improve our schools, reduce our taxes, fix our roads and vastly shrink government spending. Cutler is that person.

ME-Gov: Independent Cutler Poised to Overtake Democrat, Many Voters Remain Undecided

From the Portland Press Herald:

A dramatic shift appears to have occurred among voters in Maine's gubernatorial race and in one congressional contest, according to a new independent poll released Thursday.  Independent Eliot Cutler moved up substantially to a statistical second-place tie with Democrat Libby Mitchell, who lost support compared with earlier polls. Cutler's support, which had been hovering around 11 percent, increased to 19 percent in the latest poll. Mitchell had 20 percent. The poll had Republican Paul LePage with a 12 percentage point lead at 32 percent. . . .

Five percent of respondents to the latest poll said they would vote for independent Shawn Moody in the governor's race and 1 percent said they would vote for independent Kevin Scott. Twenty-one percent remain undecided, according to the poll, which asked people who they would vote for if the election were held the next day.

ME-Gov: Democrats and Republicans Boost Independent Eliot Cutler

From the Journal Tribune:

Maine’s two major political parties have been doing a marvelous job advocating for one of the state’s gubernatorial candidates. But neither Democrats nor Republicans are making a convincing case for their own party’s nominee. The aspirant they’ve unwittingly been boosting is an independent. . . . 

A governor whose primary loyalty is to Maine’s citizens rather than toward a political organization has the best chance of effectively leading the state, and an unaffiliated one would force lawmakers from both major parties into at least appearing to be reasonable; no rational Republicans or Democrats wish to be seen as impeding progress. Cutler would be in a better position than Mitchell or LePage to reach a workable consensus on a variety of issues, since as an independent he would not be beholden to either party.

ME-Gov: Support for Independent Cutler Doubles in One Week

From Sea Coast Online:

Elliot Cutler is a happy man this week. A Rasmussen Reports poll on Tuesday indicated support for the Maine independent gubernatorial candidate had grown significantly, with his numbers nearly doubling over polls taken as recently as last week — from 11 to 21 percent of voters surveyed. And he said he's confident those numbers will only increase in the time before Election Day on Nov. 2. "This is far from over. Nineteen days are a long time," he said during a visit Tuesday with the Portsmouth Herald editorial board.

ME-Gov: Race Will Be Decided by the Undecided, the Case for Cutler

From the Portland Press Herald:

it looks as if the election will be determined by the way the unusually large bloc of undecided voters (26 percent) moves. Mitchell may get some, but it is Cutler who will likely start picking up real support. This is just about where independent Angus King was in 1994 when he started to make his move. Why do I think the undecideds will start moving to Cutler? Because he is the one candidate who can deliver on an agenda to change Maine – as he says, "to make Maine the comeback state of the next decade."

LePage talks a change game, but has neither the grasp of real solutions nor the temperament to make change happen. Libby Mitchell would simply hope that things get better. I believe the next governor of Maine needs to be able to address four questions. I have listened to the candidates in debates and have reviewed the programs they propose on their websites. These are the grades I give them on each of the questions . . .

NV and ME: Former GOP Officials Endorse Independents

From Maine Public Broadcasting:

The former chairman of the Maine Republican Party is backing Independent candidate Shawn Moody in the race for governor. Mark Ellis, of Augusta, is a long-time GOP activist who has held campaign positions with Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. He says his decision to drop out of the Republican Party in June was partially motivated by Republican Paul LePage's gubernatorial primary victory. In choosing Moody, Ellis says that the Independent candidate harbors many core Republican values and has the ability to lead Maine over the next four years.

From Nevada News and Views:

Four former Republican Elko County commissioners – Nolan Lloyd, Tony Lesperance, Royce Hackworth and Brad Roberts are supporting independent candidate Janine Hansen for Assembly District 33, saying she is a proven conservative they can trust. “Elko now has the most liberal County Commission in history,” stated Roberts. “Elko County has been plunged into debt—some $20,000,000! John Ellison has been a big part of voting for that unprecedented spending. That’s why we are endorsing Janine Hansen.

ME: Cutler Blasts Democratic-Republican "Duopoly," Campaign Games, Personality Politics, Lack of Substance

From the Sun Journal:

Cutler said the parties were trying to convince voters that the only alternative to their candidates, Republican Paul LePage or Democrat Libby Mitchell, was the other. "It's what an economist would call a duopoly," Cutler said. "It's only a tiny bit less bad than a monopoly." Cutler, who compares his candidacy to that of King and Jim Longley, said the parties have since moved "heaven and earth" to make sure another independent doesn't move their hold on power.

ME: Cutler Releases Four Point Plan to Bolster Tourism in Maine

From the Cutler Campaign:

Yet, you and I need to be partners from the beginning in jumpstarting and rebuilding Maine’s economy. So here is my ante, my good faith bargain with you –

First, the Cutler Administration will develop and sustain the Maine brand, one that embraces everything about Maine, from who we are to what we sell. It is one of our most important assets and competitive advantages.

Second, A centerpiece of the government restructuring plan that I proposed a few weeks ago is a new department in which we will consolidate the economic development functions that are now scattered all over state government. We will call it the Department of Commerce and Tourism.

Third, I have called for a longer school year as a part of my education reform proposal. I also think that in a state where tourism and hospitality is the number one industry, we should make every effort to start our school year after Labor Day, and I will try to make that change all across Maine.

Finally, I will give you the respect that you deserve as Maine’s number one industry. When I am Governor, you will have not just a friend in the Blaine House, you will have a tireless advocate and a staunch defender.

ME: Bangor Daily News Profiles Eliot Cutler

From the Bangor Daily News:

Cutler, the most well-known and politically experienced of three independents running for governor, needs votes from centrist Republicans, moderate Democrats and plenty of independents if he can mount a successful run at the Blaine House. The Bangor native who now lives in Cape Elizabeth has plenty of confidence. He often talks about what he plans to do “when” he is governor rather than “if.”

ME: Cutler Proposes State Welfare Reform Plan

From the Kennebec Journal:

Mainers are angry and frustrated by public assistance and welfare, but independent Eliot Cutler said Wednesday he has a plan to improve the system. . . .
His plan includes:

* Making sure there are enough investigators to prevent fraud and abuse
* Imposing "more effective job search and employment activity requirements" of applicants
* Verifying residence to make sure those who have a domicile in another state don't get Maine benefits
* Gradually reducing benefits as income increases so "people can go back to work without moving backwards financially"

ME: Independent Greens Begin Interviewing Gubernatorial Candidates for Voter Guide

From Green Party Watch:

In an effort to provide guidance to party membership, the Maine Green Independent Party has begun interviewing Gubernatorial candidates. The results of the interviews will be published in a voter guide, with potential for candidate endorsements. “We are open-minded about a possible endorsement in the gubernatorial race. At the very least, we intend to publish a comparison of Green Party issues of concern and candidates’ responses to those issues,” said Anna Trevorrow, Party Spokesperson.

ME: Independent Cutler Offers Education Reform Plan

From the Cutler campaign for governor of Maine:

The Portland Press Herald published an Op-Ed piece by Ron Bancroft on education in Maine. Bancroft discusses how Maine has slipped from its position as a leader in education reform. Bancroft expresses frustration with the lack of innovation from the Department of Education and the MEA as well as the MEA’s dismissal of Maine’s results in the Race to the Top Federal education reform competition. Bancroft continues by writing that Eliot Cutler is the only gubernatorial candidate that has yet to fully address Maine’s education reform needs and poor performance in the Race to the Top.

ME: Is Honesty Really a Barrier to Electoral Success?

From an Op-Ed by George Smith at Maine's Morning Sentinel:

it was no surprise when Republicans sharply criticized Independent gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler for comments indicating a tax cut in the next two years for Maine’s hard-pressed citizens is unrealistic.

Cutler is right, but perhaps politically unwise, to be offering such frank statements in a political campaign when most people want to hear a more hopeful message, no matter how unrealistic. . . .


I contacted Cutler to find out what he was really saying and thinking and found his reasoning hard to refute. . . .


One fact is undeniable, and Cutler mentioned it in our conversation. Without significant economic growth, Maine will continue to founder, chasing unrealistic promises and suffering the consequences.

Cutler may never be governor — his candor is a real barrier to electoral success — but he’s doing us a favor — and raising the level of debate in this election — by talking the truth. I expect he will continue to be punished for it.