Filing Deadline Reached for State and Federal Candidates
Slew of Major Policy Bills Introduced in Waning Days of
Session
Filing Deadline Reached for State and Federal Candidates
Maine Republicans and Democrats were required to submit their
nomination petitions by March 15th in order to qualify for
June's primary ballot. In the wake of Senator Snowe's
announcement that she would not be seeking reelection this year,
this date loomed large for those seeking to run for the U.S.
Senate, as candidates had less than three weeks to collect 2,000
valid signatures. With the passage of this deadline, the field of
candidates for State and federal offices is largely set (unenrolled
candidates have until June to qualify for the general election
ballot).
Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate race are former Maine
Senate President Richard Bennett, former Lisbon Falls Selectman
Scott D'Amboise, State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin, State Senate
Assistant Majority Leader Deborah Plowman, Attorney General William
Schneider and Secretary of State Charlie Summers. With former
Governor Baldacci's announcement that he would not be running
for U.S. Senate this week, the Democrat candidates are State
Senator Cynthia Dill, former Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap,
State Representative Jon Hinck, and Portland homebuilder Benjamin
Pollard. Former Governor Angus King is also running for this seat
as an unenrolled candidate.
The race for Maine's first Congressional District seat looks
to be a contest between incumbent Chellie Pingree (D) and State
Senate Majority Leader Jonathan Courtney (R), though Senator
Courtney will face a primary challenge from Patrick Calder (R). The
race for Maine's second Congressional District seat looks to be
a contest between incumbent Mike Michaud (D) and State Senate
President Kevin Raye (R), though Senator Raye will face a primary
challenge from Blaine Richardson (R).
This March 15th deadline also applied to candidates seeking to
run for Maine's 151 House seats and 35 Senate seats. With these
filings, the primary season begins in earnest.
Slew of Major Policy Bills Introduced in Waning Days of
Session
Legislative leaders are pushing for early adjournment of this
year's legislative session, hoping that work can be wrapped up
over the next three weeks. Working at cross purposes to this plan
is the fact that a number of major policy bills have only recently
been introduced. Given the tight deadlines facing the Legislature,
these bills are being printed and heard in public hearing within a
few days, as the customary two-week notice period has been waived
at this point in the session. As a result, those interested in
these legislative matters must be monitoring bills each day and
quickly reacting to proposals as they are made publically
available.
Major policy bills that have been made available over the last
few days include a proposal to reorganize the Department of Health
and Human Services, a supplemental budget proposal that also
includes a proposal to eliminate the State Planning Office, four
education bills that constitute the Governor's education
package and four energy bills that constitute the Governor's
energy package. The pace at the State House will only intensify, as
there is a rush to complete business soon.
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