AUGUSTA – Former Chief Justice Daniel E. Wathen today is expected to announce that he is dropping out of the 2002 governor’s race.

Wathen, 61, could not be reached Sunday evening, but in an e-mail to supporters he said he would hold a news conference this morning to elaborate on his reasons.

Not quite two months ago, he upset the state’s political landscape when he resigned from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to seek the Republican nomination.

“I have come to the firm conclusion after 7 weeks of political organizing and a little bit of campaigning that I cannot make the conversion from judge to partisan politician,” Wathen said Sunday in his e-mail. “I am like a fish out of water.

“At this stage I am able to return contributions and withdraw on terms that are agreeable to me,” he wrote. “I thank you for your support and I assure you that I would not withdraw if I thought I could withstand the rigors of the political process. I might make a good Governor, but I would never make it through an election cycle.”

Wathen in late October ended speculation that he might run as a publicly funded candidate under Maine’s Clean Elections Act by opting for conventional private funding.

Several supporters of Wathen expressed surprise at his decision Sunday evening, but declined to comment until Wathen makes his official announcement.

He was said to be doing well in raising money and in garnering support. He had hired as campaign manager David Winslow, who has been director of legislative and public affairs for the state Human Services Department for eight years, and Dennis Bailey, formerly Gov. Angus King’s communications director, as a campaign consultant.

Leon Gorman, L.L. Bean chairman, has been the chairman of Wathen’s campaign steering committee, and former Portland newspaper executive John DiMatteo has led the finance committee.

Wathen also had the support of former Bath Iron Works executive Duane “Buzz” Fitzgerald, longtime Republican activist Merton Henry of Scarborough, and state Sen. Peter Mills, R-Cornville.

“I am very surprised by this, and disappointed,” Mills said. “I think he would have been a strong candidate in the primary and could have beaten John Baldacci in the fall.”

Baldacci, who represents Maine’s 2nd Congressional District in Washington, so far has been unopposed in his pursuit of the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Republicans Peter Cianchette of South Portland and Jim Libby of Gorham, both former lawmakers, are expected to be the only GOP contenders in the June primary.

Independents include David Flanagan of Manchester, a former Central Maine Power Co. chief and staffer to Gov. Joseph Brennan, and possibly former Lewiston state Sen. John Jenkins, who has expressed interest in the race but has yet to announce.

There are also two possible Green Party candidates – Jonathan Carter of Lexington Township and Steven Farsaci of Farmington.

A native of Easton in Aroostook County, Wathen lives in Augusta and is a registered Republican. A graduate of the former Ricker College in Houlton, he received his law degree from the University of Maine School of Law.

His judicial appointments cut across party lines. After a decade in private practice, Wathen was appointed a Superior Court justice in 1977 by Gov. James Longley, an independent. He was nominated to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in 1981 by Brennan, a Democrat. Gov. John McKernan, a Republican, selected Wathen as his choice for chief justice in 1992.