GOP gubernatorial candidates face off at convention

AUGUSTA – Faced with two gubernatorial candidates sharing similar views, delegates to the Republican State Convention were urged Saturday to consider seriously the single glaring issue that separates both men: where they get their money.

Peter Cianchette, a former South Portland state legislator, is running a traditional campaign that to date has raked in a little more than $360,000 in private donations.

His opponent, Jim Libby, a high school teacher from Buxton who also has served in the Legislature, last month became the first gubernatorial candidate to qualify for public campaign funding under Maine’s Clean Elections Act.

Libby has received $314,139 in funds collected by the state from Maine taxpayers to prepare for the June 11 GOP primary. Should he prevail at the polls, he would be eligible for up to a little more than $1 million for the Nov. 5 general election.

Libby told party members Saturday that he viewed his publicly funded candidacy as an opportunity to “do something about the gravy train of millions of special interest dollars to candidates.”

“My campaign, in all likelihood, will put over $1 million into the Maine economy to assure a Republican victory,” Libby said. “I hope you feel comfortable with that because in my first day in office, I’ll save you five times that.”

Libby’s muted implication that his opponent would be beholden to special interests was not lost on Cianchette, and for good reason. As the grandson of the Italian immigrant who founded the Pittsfield-based Cianbro Corp. construction empire, Cianchette has enjoyed the support of those in the building industry who would be among the first on the list of major campaign contributors.

Cianchette, who followed Libby on the convention agenda, adroitly defended his privately funded campaign while taking a shot at Libby, a tactic that elicited louder applause from the crowd than Libby’s attempt to portray himself as immune to special interests.

“I know what it’s like to stand up to the special interests and say enough is enough,” Cianchette said. “It is time to set priorities. And speaking of setting priorities, I simply cannot accept the notion that Maine taxpayers should be spending millions of dollars to fund this race for governor. We are already the highest-taxed people in the country. I don’t think we should take even more of your money to buy balloons, bumper stickers and lawn signs. Believe me, my campaign is clean.”

Now a private consultant, Cianchette no longer is associated with the family business. But he said the construction trade instilled a lifelong belief that personal goals can be achieved by honest, hard work. He pledged to reduce property taxes, improve the delivery of health care services and introduce legislation guaranteeing Maine children the best educational system available.

Cianchette also promised that, if elected, businesses inside and outside the state would find a more welcoming attitude in the governor’s office, which he said should be respectful of those who invest in Maine and its people. He quickly added that his campaign would not sacrifice the state’s natural resources in the process of instituting a “fundamental change in the business climate.”

“[My campaign] is about bringing a sense of accountability to government, so that dollars we have to spend are dollars spent wisely – on results, not rhetoric,” he said.

Although Libby and Cianchette shared similar views on several core GOP concerns, Libby chose to use a significant amount of his time before the delegates to explain his plan to address issues of concern to all Mainers, such as the need to stem rising health care costs. He compared his solution to the Republican-led efforts in the early 1990s to reform the Workers’ Compensation Commission. Those revisions eliminated cost drivers, such as exorbitant legal fees, by creating a less formal settlement system as an alternative to court-ordered remedies.

“In the health care arena today, the costs are similar,” Libby said. “Doctors and hospitals pay dearly for medical malpractice coverage, lawsuits and related settlements. All of those costs from the legal community are passed on to us. There is currently a national movement to reform the out-of-control legal community. Its leaders know that our litigious ways cannot continue without completely eroding an otherwise healthy economy.”

As a high school math and economics teacher, Libby said he also was well aware of the increasingly tense situations that many teachers face daily. Concerns over job security and personal safety in the classroom, he said, are foremost in the minds of Maine’s 187,000 active and retired teachers, who have tended to lean politically toward the Democratic Party.

“These teachers will strive to put a teacher in the Blaine House,” Libby said. “Even a Republican one!”