Congresswoman Edwards campaigns for Pingree in Maine

At a campaign event in Cape Elizabeth last week, the newest member of the United States Congress told a crowd that she hoped Maine voters would send Chellie Pingree to Washington this fall.

Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards came to Maine in support of Pingree's Congressional campaign. She cited a recent vote on the Foreign Services Intelligence Act (FISA) as one example of why she wants to see people like Pingree in Congress. Democratic leadership in the House--including the House Majority Leader whose district is adjacent to Edwards's--put pressure on Democratic members to vote for the FISA bill. Edwards voted against the bill.

"We need people in the United States Congress who are going to hold Democrats' feet to the fire so that we do right by the American people. And who aren't going to just follow the party line but make sure that the party line is the right line to follow," Edwards said. "And I know that Chellie Pingree is that kind of stand-up, I've-got-a-little-backbone Democrat. That's why I can't wait until we're sitting next to each other on the floor of the United States Congress."

Rep. Edwards, the first African American woman elected to Congress from Maryland, scored an upset win over a 15-year incumbent Congressman in February. Instead of serving out his term, the incumbent Congressman resigned and Edwards won a special election in June and was sworn in shortly thereafter.

Chellie Pingree is a candidate for Congress in Maine's 1st District. Pingree has earned a reputation as someone who is willing to stand up and tell the truth, even when it isn't popular. She got her start in public service in her hometown of North Haven and went on to serve as Majority Leader in the Maine Senate. Pingree ran for the US Senate against Susan Collins in 2002, opposing the war in Iraq at a time when it wasn't politically popular. For four years Pingree served as national President of Common Cause, where she fought for ethics and campaign finance reform and against media consolidation.