Donors take sides in state elections Drug, abortion groups back candidates

Candidates in high-profile Maine races who won their primaries nearly a month ago collected campaign contributions from drug manufacturers, abortion-rights groups and other donors taking sides in some of the most contentious issues of the day.

Michael Michaud, the Maine Senate president pro tem who won a six-way Democratic primary in the 2nd Congressional District race, got money from Philip Morris Cos. and the National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund.

Other candidates have shunned Philip Morris because of its history as a cigarette maker.

Michaud, a 28-year millworker, also received support from a variety of national unions as he raised $120,375 of his first $305,780 from political action committees.

Kevin Raye, the Republican 2nd District nominee who faces Michaud in November, received funding from several groups supporting abortion rights. Donations include $5,000 from the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League and Planned Parenthood Action Fund just before the June 11 primary.

Raye, the strongest supporter of abortion rights among the four Republicans in his party’s primary, had also received $4,997 from the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition and $2,500 from Republicans for Choice.

“Kevin Raye is 100 percent pro-choice; that’s why this decision was made,” said Jody Frisch, a spokeswoman for the reproductive rights action league.

With Congress and the state focusing on legislation to lower the cost of prescription drugs, manufacturers are making their presence known through contributions in Maine’s U.S. Senate race.

Before June’s uncontested GOP primary, incumbent Sen. Susan Collins took in $16,000 from PACs of drug manufacturers Genentech Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Eli Lilly and Co., GlaxoSmithKline and Immunex Corp. Collins also received $1,000 from Alan Holmer, president of the industry group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

Democratic Senate nominee Chellie Pingree received contributions from political action committees of Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, which may be a sign of the national prominence given her race.

While in the state Senate, Pingree sponsored a bill creating a pioneering law to lower drug costs for 325,000 Mainers. The Maine Rx law is opposed by the drug manufacturers, whose challenge is to be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Collins supports creating a prescription-drug benefit within Medicare, which the industry supports, a campaign spokeswoman said. Collins also supports allowing the reimportation of lower-priced drugs from Canada, which the industry opposes.

Pingree won $52,701 in donations collected by Emily’s List, which supports Democrats who support abortion rights. The Council for a Livable World, which is critical of national missile defense and supports reducing stockpiles of nuclear weapons, collected $25,043 in donations that went to Pingree through mid-May.