Josh Tardy

The moral of the story?  The Republican Party has some soul searching to do.

State Sen. Kevin Raye (R-Perry) and Rep. Josh Tardy (R-Newport), Republican leaders in their respective chambers, have released a joint statement following Gov. John Baldacci’s announcement of $80 million in budget curtailments.

“Although we want to review the Governor’s order in detail before commenting on the full substance of his decisions, we want to make it clear these are turbulent economic times that require difficult decisions.  While we hope it may be possible to identify alternative reductions in some areas, particularly with respect to education, we believe the Legislature is prepared to work with the Governor on a bipartisan basis to achieve the required spending reductions while preserving a safety net for our most vulnerable citizens and protecting the public health and safety.”

Rep. John Robinson (R-Raymond) ran for assistant minority leader in the House against Phil Curtis (R-Madison) and Stacey Fitts (R-Pittsfield), with Curtis prevailing.

Also, Rep. Josh Tardy (R-Newport) ran unopposed for his second term as minority leader. Regrettably we were unable to get video of Fitts or Tardy.

AUGUSTA -- In a unanimous vote by the House Republican caucus, Rep. Josh Tardy (R-Newport) was elected to his second term as House Republican Leader.

Tardy was unopposed.

We will have more on the election later.

Maine House Republicans will elect their leaders this afternoon. We have put together brief bios of each of the candidates, taken from the legislative record.

Josh Tardy

Running for: Minority leader

District: 25

Town: Newport

Occupation: Attorney

Political experience: Three terms in Legislature

Current committee: Currently the Republican leader, formerly a member of the Taxation committee

Republicans and Democrats in the Maine House will elect their respective leaders Thursday.

On the Democratic side, Rep. Hannah Pingree (D-North Haven) will likely be unopposed for House speaker.

For House majority leader, Reps. Gary Connor (D-Kennebunk), John Piotti (D-Unity) and Sharon Treat (D-Hallowell) have all announced intentions to run.

It is a five-way race for majority whip between:

UPDATED 5:10 p.m. with comments from Democratic Party spokeswoman Rebecca Pollard

The Maine Democratic Party has withdrawn its complaint against the Maine Republican Party regarding an independent expenditure made on behalf of their executive director, Julie O’Brien, who is running for the Maine House.

They brought the complaint before the Ethics Commission earlier this week, alleging a conflict of interest.

The commission meeting that had been scheduled for Friday morning to hear the matter has been cancelled.

House Republican Leader Josh Tardy (R-Newport) said that O’Brien was not involved in making the expenditure for her race – or any of the House races.

Photos from Todd Palin's visit to Maine:

The First Dude in Palmyra: Several supporters wore pink shirts saying "Maine's 2nd District welcomes Alaska's 1st Dude." Politicker photo.

PALMYRA -- PolitickerME.com video: Josh Tardy, vice-chairman of John McCain’s campaign in Maine, and Martin Buser, four-time Iditarod champion, introduce Todd Palin, husband of Alaska Governor and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Palin spoke at a rally in Palmyra Saturday.

The First Dude: Todd Palin greets supporters in Palmyra. Politicker photo.

UPDATED 7:02 pm

PALMYRA -- Moosehead Trail Trading Post isn’t a venue equipped for large crowds, and up until recently Todd Palin wasn’t a speaker used to large crowds.

Still, more than 600 people showed up in the parking lot of the Palmyra variety store to see the husband of the Alaska Governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

His remarks were short, lasting just about five minutes. The crowd rallied around him after and he spent a half hour working the rope line.

“Maine reminds me of Alaska, but you have a lot more colors in your leaves than we do,” he said.