FALMOUTH – Setting himself apart from his two privately funded Republican rivals, Jim Libby pledged Thursday to set new standards in campaign financing in his bid to become the GOP’s first publicly funded nominee for governor in 2002.

Speaking at the Portland Athletic Club’s reception hall, Libby was cheered on by about 25 friends and supporters who turned out to hear the former Buxton state senator’s plans to seek campaign funding under Maine’s Clean Election Act. Under the law, candidates are allowed to raise up to $50,000 in seed money to initiate a campaign in the year prior to the election. Libby raised about $10,000 and has now moved on to collecting the 2,500, $5 contribution checks from individual Maine voters required by the law.

“That’s a lot of checks, but we’re going to get it done,” said Libby.

In return for public funding, Libby cannot accept any money from special interests or corporate contributions. The Buxton teacher said “big money and corporate interests” had resisted efforts to enact the “clean”‘ legislation fearing the law could weaken their influence.

“But there won’t be resistance from the working people of Maine,” Libby said. “They know that money has corrupted what goes on in Augusta and Washington. We have put together a long list of contributors, in fact more than any of the other candidates in the state. That’s why we know we’re going to have a broader base of support than anyone else in this race.”

U.S. Rep. John Baldacci of Bangor is running unopposed in his bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor. Former Central Maine Power chief David Flanagan of Manchester is running as an independent, and environmental activist Jonathan Carter of Lexington has all but officially announced his candidacy as a Green independent.

Among Republicans, the 2002 gubernatorial race pits Libby against South Portland businessman Peter Cianchette and Daniel Wathen of Augusta, the former chief justice of the Maine Supreme Court. Libby described himself as possibly more conservative than his rivals on some issues such as the recent Maine expansion of health care benefits to the partners of gay men and lesbian women who are state employees.

“With health care costs spiraling the way they are now, for state government to be leading that kind of effort is terrible,” he said. “I am the only the candidate that’s actually voted and publicly said that I’m opposed to any new benefits, rights or privileges for gay couples.”

Libby, who holds a doctorate in education, promised to make the creation of new learning opportunities for Maine’s students the driving thrust of his gubernatorial bid. Although he would oppose the idea of an exit exam as a prerequisite to high school graduation, Libby would require that high school students take a comprehensive exam in their sophomore year.

“Then we could diagnose the problem that students are having and in what area,” he said. “Then we could take measured action to ensure that that young person graduates without areas of weakness.”

Broader arrays of educational programs that are closer to the state’s population centers are desperately needed, Libby said, to make more Maine workers more competitive and desirable to new high technology industries.

“One of the biggest things that employers complain about to all legislators is that we have a lack of trained labor,” he said.