PORTLAND – Exactly one year from Election Day 2002, independent gubernatorial candidate David T. Flanagan is kicking off his campaign with a dawn-till-well-past-dark road trip across the state.

Flanagan will make scheduled stops today in Fairfield, Caribou, Orono, Waterville, Brunswick and Portland where he will wind up the day with an evening rally and celebration with supporters at the DoubleTree Hotel.

“State government is serious business and David Flanagan believes state government should work as hard as Maine taxpayers do,” said campaign manager John O’Dea. “We’re going to run a serious, aggressive and energetic campaign throughout the state for the next 12 months. … Our effort on Tuesday will be a clear signal just how serious we are about spreading his message throughout the state.”

While six stops have been scheduled, O’Dea said Flanagan also likely will stop in Bangor, where he was born and grew up, and in the Lewiston-Auburn area.

“Those are important service-center cities that can benefit from David’s economic development strategies,” O’Dea said.

Flanagan was CEO of Central Maine Power from 1994 to 2000. He was a chief legal counsel to Gov. Joseph Brennan and is a 10-year member and former chairman of the University of Maine System board. Flanagan’s key issues include:

. Reducing the high cost of doing business in Maine, which is 10 percent above the national average;

. Freezing – and then reducing – Maine’s taxes, which are the highest in the nation;

. Making state government more efficient and effective;

. Funding education programs that will prepare students and workers for the knowledge-based jobs of the 21st century;

. Economic development initiatives that focus on a few key areas, notably increasing the state’s base of biotechnology companies; and

. Providing the kinds of economic and educational opportunities that will allow younger generations to stay in Maine and raise their families here.