‘This is such a long shot’: Republican challenger to Michaud enters race

John Frary, a retired college professor from Farmington, announced Saturday that he plans to challenge U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud in the 2008 election to represent the Second Congressional District.

Frary’s political experience is limited to losing a race for the New Jersey equivalent of a county commissioner in 1981. He grew up in Farmington and got his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Maine. He taught in New Jersey, but later returned to Farmington where he serves as a selectman.

He said he is running because Michaud doesn’t impress him much, and there were no other challengers. After talking with Maine Republican leaders, who supported the idea, he decided to give it a shot.

“This is such a long shot,” Frary said. “All this sets me free to do whatever I damn well please, and treat voters as adults.”

His campaign is in its infancy. His next steps are to raise money (since the PowerBall ticket he bought didn’t work out) and gather a following.

If elected, he doesn’t expect to have much weight in Congress as a freshman representative. He said he would band with other members upset with the previous Congress and work toward enforcing the immigration laws, minimizing government and having an “adult discussion on foreign policy.”

With language that is hardly diplomatic, Frary described his campaign strategy to political satirist Al Diamon: “I contemplate a two-pronged strategy. First, let it be known that I’m determined never again to abandon the sacred soil of my native state. Second, annoy so many voters that they will send me south of the Kittery bridge out of sheer vindictiveness.”