I am writing in response to a letter written by State Rep. Julie Winn that appeared in the Bangor Daily News June 27. I was greatly annoyed at the implication that my candidacy in the Democratic primary for House District 122 was directly linked to Rep. Winn’s opposition to former House Speaker John Martin.

I have never met or spoken with former Speaker Martin and I was never in contact with any members of the current Democratic house leadership during my campaign. I ran in the primary first, because I firmly believe that young people should become involved in government and out of a commitment to the state and community I have always called my home and, secondly because I and many others had been thoroughly discouraged by Rep. Winn’s overall performance.

Although Rep. Winn won the primary, it might be important for her to consider the fact that in that three-way race, my vote totals combined with those of the third candidate in the race out number hers easily. This demonstrates the fact that many loyal voters in her own party were disappointed with her first term as well. However, I’m not certain that Julie Winn will be able to effectively use this information because, as her letter clearly shows, she is much more adept at building fires and burning bridges than she is at working well with others and reaching out to people. Richard S. Gwinn Levant