Corey Hascall

State Sen. Ethan Strimling: Campaign PhotoFollowing his loss in the Democratic Congressional primary, outgoing state Sen. Ethan Strimling (D-Portland) is focusing on an organization he helped form in 2004.

A Rising Tide trains young Mainers in grassroots campaigning and organizing. It will train its 13th class of 30 people this weekend.

Strimling’s former campaign manager, Corey Hascall, is the executive director.

The training is free, but then graduates must spend 40 hours volunteering for an effort of their choice.

Trainers are: Dennis Bailey, President of Savvy Inc. and Democratic political strategist; Chris Potholm, Bowdoin College Professor and pollster and Roy Lenardson, a Republican political consultant and strategist.

Ethan Strimling’s campaign has returned a $250 donation from a Connecticut hedge fund, saying it was given as a “dirty trick” by one of Chellie Pingree’s supporters.

Pingree’s campaign said they know nothing of the donation, and public records searches show the fund’s founder had donated to Strimling’s interests in the past.

Strimling campaign manager Corey Hascall said the donation from Selwyn Sussman of Rye Brook, New York came after the campaign sent out a fundraising solicitation that criticized Pingree for taking money from employees of Paloma Partners, a hedge fund based in Greenwich, Ct.