GOP legislative candidates outpace Dems

AUGUSTA – There was a lot of backslapping going on at Maine Republican Party headquarters Monday after it became apparent that the GOP was about to place more legislative candidates on the ballot this fall than majority Democrats.

“For the first time in over three decades, Mainers in nearly every legislative district in the state will have an opportunity to vote for a Republican candidate,” Kathy Watson, state GOP chairwoman said in a prepared statement. “Urgent issues such as property tax reform have driven an unprecedented number of Republican candidates to seek office.”

Watson’s remarks were released just before the arrival of the secretary of state’s 5 p.m. deadline for candidate withdrawals and replacements. Julie Flynn, deputy secretary of state in charge of the elections division, said the official listing for all legislative candidates would be completed today.

Unofficially, it appeared at the Monday deadline that Republicans had fielded candidates for 149 of 151 House seats and Democrats had recruited 146. In the 35-member Maine Senate, Republicans failed to find an opponent in District 9 to run against incumbent Sen. Michael Brennan, D-Portland. If the Maine Supreme Judicial Court decides this week against a write-in candidate’s challenge to be on the ballot in Washington County, Democrats also will be without a candidate in a Senate district.

A total of 34 new candidates for Republican, Democratic and Green parties have stepped forward to fill vacancies announced by state election officials on July 12. The Green Independent Party was particularly successful in finding replacements for all four of its vacancies in southern Maine.

Area legislative district vacancies that were filled by Monday’s deadline include:

. Arthur W. Keenan will replace Josephine S. Cooper as the Democratic nominee for House District 34, which encompasses several Hancock County communities stretching from Lamoine to Gouldsboro.

. Caspar W. Weinberger Jr. will replace Merle F. Cousins Jr., the Republican nominee for House District 35, which encompasses Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor, the Cranberry Isles and portions of Mount Desert.

. John C. Bradford will replace Charles F. Berhalter, the Republican nominee for House District 36, which encompasses several Penobscot Bay island communities including North Haven, Vinalhaven, Deer Isle and Stonington.

. William D. Reed will replace Peter Fullerton, the Republican candidate for Orono’s District 19.

. Gary L. Frost will replace Catharine “Kay” Lebowitz, the Republican candidate for the House District 15 seat in Bangor.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is continuing to weigh whether it has jurisdiction to determine one House contest and two disputed Senate races, including an appeal by Democratic write-in candidate Kim Bagley of Machias, who needed 200 votes to get on the ballot. State election officials ruled she received 173. Bagley maintains a recount of 279 ballots for Senate District 29 should have identified 211 that were marked in a manner indicating that she was the voters’ choice.

Republican leaders attributed their ability to attract more candidates than Democrats to voter discontent with the Democratic majority’s inability to “take action to control spending and provide meaningful tax relief.”

But Chris Harris, spokesman for the Maine Democratic Party, disagreed, maintaining that the Democratic message would resonate with voters who will appreciate the quality candidates his party has recruited.

“Democrats have done this before and we have an organization in place to guarantee a good grass roots campaign,” he said. “That’s why we’ve been able to hold the majority for so long at the State House. [The candidate numbers] won’t really be that much of a factor.”