House

Adam Cote picked up the endorsements of the Business Industry Political Action Committee and the Maine Credit Union this week.

BIPAC is a national organization backed by major corporations such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, which gave them $10,000 in this election cycle, Southern Electric Company, $5,000, General Motors, $1,000 and Halliburton Company, $1,000. The bulk of the candidates endorsed by the group are Republicans.

Cote is the only Democrat BIPAC has endorsed this cycle. Campaign manager Tom Janenda said Cote appeals to a broad base of people because of the need to elect more people with real world experience to Congress.

Dean Scontras, a Republican candidate in the First Congressional District, has been endorsed by the National Right to Life Political Action Committee.

Scontras is a pro-life candidate.

UPDATE: Pingree released a second ad Thursday. 

First Congressional District candidate Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, released an advertisement Tuesday centered on her opposition to the war in Iraq – both in 2002 when she ran for Senate and now.

“It was uncommon, Chellie Pingree had the courage to oppose the war in Iraq from the beginning, even when other Democrats supported George Bush,” the ad begins.

In the ad, she argues that money in Iraq would be better spent on health care, job creation and education.

This comes after two of her opponents, Democrats Adam Cote and Ethan Strimling, criticized her for being inconsistent in her position on funding the war. Saturday, Major General Paul Eaton wrote a letter to the editor to the Portland Press Herald, disassociating himself from the Pingree campaign and endorsing Cote, an Iraq veteran, instead.

First District Congressional Candidate Ethan Strimling has called one of his opponents "inconsistent" on her Iraq war position, accusing her of "sending mixed messages".

In a statement released by the campaign, Mr. Strimling refers to a recent dust up in which Pingree made several public appearances and pronouncements supporting a withdrawal plan. The Strimling campaign has pointed out that Pingree has said she favors an immediate end to the war, yet she also signed on to a plan that withdraws troops and reduces US involvement over a period of time. That plan is known as the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq.

Dean Scontras, candidate for the First Congressional District picked up the endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee. In accepting the endorsement Mr. Scontras stated,

 "I am proud of this endorsement," said Scontras. "I have said throughout this campaign that I am proudly pro-life, and I will not change my beliefs for political expediency. As President Reagan pointed out, it is impossible to diminish the importance of the unborn life without diminishing respect for all human life. I will boldly defend this, the most basic of our values, when I get to Washington."

Mr. Scontras was even able to work in the name of Ronald Reagan, which he is required to do by law in the Republican Party ---  at least six times a day, every day.

PolitickerME.com will post audio from the debate in a bit

It was a small event, but nonetheless a fitting venue for Charlie Summers’ first event on the campaign trail.

Summers, a Republican First Congressional District candidate, participated in a candidates forum Monday night at a veterans’ home in his home town, Scarborough.

Summers returned home from Iraq Saturday evening, and spent most of Monday filing the necessary paperwork to get off active duty. For the past nine months his wife, Ruth Summers, has stood in for him on the campaign trail.

Charlie Summers, a Republican candidate in the First Congressional District, arrived home Saturday after spending nine months in Iraq.

While his wife, Ruth Summers, was campaigning in his place, Summers was a public information officer with a provincial reconstruction team in Baghdad, working with multi-national forces in both Arabic and United States’ media, and helping the build schools and businesses.

Summers has agreed to sit down with PolitickerME in the next few weeks to talk more about his time overseas. At a forum Monday evening he did touch on his experience when asked a question about war funding. See below for video.

Summers will face Republican opponent Dean Scontras in the primary June 10.

Two very different First Congressional District candidates announced advertising campaigns today bearing the same central theme: the need for fresh faces in Washington.

“Times are tough right now, and career politicians don’t seem to be able to get anything done,” begins Democrat Adam Cote in his television advertisement.

“We live in challenging times, and career politicians seem less concerned about improving our way of life,” begins a radio advertisement for Republican candidate Dean Scontras.

Chellie Pingree has a problem. Although, it remains to be seen if it is necessarily a bad problem to have. A few weeks ago she had a great PR week with her press event announcing her intention to support "A responsible plan to end the war in Iraq." PolitickerME covered the story here. In addition to a press conference with General Johns, Ms. Pingree also co-authored an op-ed with Major General Paul Eaton, a lead advocate of the plan to leave Iraq.

Fast forward to this week. On Saturday, May 10th, Major General Eaton apparently had second thoughts on his Pingree endorsement. He sent a letter to the editor of the Portland Press Herald that read in part,

"I recently agreed to allow Chellie Pingree to lend her name to an op-ed column I wrote in support of a very serious plan to end the war in Iraq responsibly ("Democrats sign on to plan to end the Iraq war") published in this paper on April 22. I am writing today to disassociate myself from Chellie Pingree's campaign and endorse Adam Cote's bid for Congress in Maine's 1st District."

Charlie Summers, a Republican candidate in the 1st congressional district, returned home from Iraq Saturday evening, greeting a small group of friends and family at the Portland Jetport.