Karen Raye

The current rumor circulating among Republicans is that Peter Cianchette will resign his post as National Committeeman from Maine. If so, that would mean that both posts will be up for grabs this Friday, when Republicans convene in Augusta.

Karen Raye, the current National Committeewoman has announced she will not be running for reelection so that she can spend her time at family's mustard business in Washington County. Currently two people have announced their intentions to run for the post; Jan Staples, who held the post prior to Raye and the former Chair of the Republican Party, Kathy Watson. This will be a good race, although it should be noted no one has been able to explain to me what they do - other than get better seats at events.

Karen Raye, who currently serves as Republican National Committee Woman from Maine has let her supporters know that she will not be seeking reelection at the convention in May.

UPDATED 4:45 PM with comments from Rep. Jeremy Fischer

With presidential candidates John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani dropping out so close to the Maine caucuses, supporters are looking to other candidates.

U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud endorsed Edwards in October. Spokeswoman Monica Castellanos said he will back another candidate, she’s just not sure who or when.

State Senator Kevin Raye will lead Rudy Giuliani’s campaign in Maine. Mitt Romney’s campaign also announced its steering committee this week.

The Giuliani camp announced their Maine leadership team today. Raye’s wife, Karen Raye, is the State Chair of Women for Rudy. She is also Maine’s Republican National Committeewoman.

Other members of the leadership team are:

Six people gathered in an empty classroom at the University of Southern Maine Thursday night over brownies and ginger ale.

After meeting briefly to talk about the script, they separated into corners of the room and started making phone calls. Today they were inviting people to a women’s summit for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, and were also compiling a list of women willing to go publically on the record as supporting Clinton.

This was the hub of Clinton’s supporters in Portland. Except none of the numbers they dialed started in 207. They were calling women in New Hampshire.

The group, which has about 25 people involved to some extent, has focused all of their efforts thus far on helping Clinton win next door. After the New Hampshire primary Jan. 8, they anticipate moving their efforts in state.

Sam Spencer, delegate to the Democratic National Convention, said it is hard to tell how much of an impact Maine will have on the presidential election. In February, Maine could see a mad rush of Democratic presidential candidates in five days, he said, or the state could be overlooked entirely.