Baldacci and Dutremble top races in fund raising

AUGUSTA — Sens. John Baldacci and Dennis L. Dutremble lead their Republican rivals in fund-raising in Maine’s two congressional districts, according to reports filed with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices.

In southern Maine’s 1st District, Dutremble, the state Senate president from Biddeford, has amassed the largest campaign war chest and leads James B. Longley in fund-raising by almost 4-to-1.

In the 2nd District in northern and central Maine, Baldacci of Bangor holds a smaller edge over Rep. Richard Bennett, a Republican legislator from Norway.

Through June 30, Baldacci had raised $134,342 compared to $73,948 for Bennett. Baldacci had only $13,258 on hand but he and Dutremble both expected to benefit financially from a barnstorming swing through Portland Monday by President Clinton.

Baldacci spent $12,000 of his own money on his campaign, including the hard-fought seven-way Democratic primary. He collected $92,692 from individuals and $25,700 from PACs.

Some of Baldacci’s major contributors included:

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, $2,500; Rep. Thomas Foley, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, $1,000; Charles Day, manager of Lewiston Raceway, $1,000; Dr. Craig Young, Presque Isle, $1,000.

Bennett had $6,540 cash on hand on June 30, about two weeks after the primary.

Bennett made a $10,000 personal loan to his campaign. He raised $55,748 from individuals and $8,200 from PACs.

Some of Bennett’s major contributors included:

NRA Political Victory Fund PAC, $4,950; Countdown to Majority PAC, $1,000; Tom Delay Congressional Committee, Houston, Texas, $1,000; Dennis Wilson, Bethel, $1,000; Grant Jones, Norway, $1,000.

Independent candidates John Michael of Auburn and Charles Fitzgerald of Atkinson did not file campaign-finance reports. If a congressional candidate does not raise or spend $5,000, they don’t have to file a report.

In the 1st Congressional District, Dutremble raised $178,813, partly from $26,500 in loans he made to his campaign. Dutremble had $11,613 cash on hand. He raised $22,430 from PACs.

Some of Dutremble’s major contributors were:

Neil Rolde of York and George Campbell of Portland, $2,000 each; Frank P. Wood of Saco, Barry Hobbins of Saco, Peter Haffenreffer of Portland and Jacqueline Gelardi of Cape Porpoise, $1,000 each.

Longley raised $46,371 and spent $43,918 to win the hard-fought Republican primary over Sen. Charles Summers, Kevin Keogh and Ted Rand. Longley loaned his campaign a little more than $5,000.

He received only $2,000 from PACs and $1,500 from the Republican Party.

Among major contributors to Longley were:

Eagle Forum PAC, Countdown to Majority PAC, Dermot Healey of Auburn, William Denley of Portland, Kathryn M. Longley-Leahy of Portland, Harold D. Jones of Norway, $1,000 each.