Republicans, Dems get ready to select state party leaders

AUGUSTA – Still assessing what worked and what didn’t for the 2004 elections, the Maine Republican and Democratic parties are getting ready to select new leaders.

Third-term GOP Chairwoman Kathy Watson is not expected to seek re-election. Two years ago, the Pittsfield woman narrowly bested state Rep. Kevin Glynn of South Portland in a two-way showdown.

Democratic Party Chairwoman Dorothy Melanson is likewise expected to step down.

The party’s state committee elected the Falmouth woman in mid-2003 over two other rivals to succeed Barbara Raths, who had just been elected chairwoman six months earlier.

This time around, contests with multiple candidates are possible on both sides. The Republican state committee vote for chairman is slated for Dec. 11. Democrats are expected to vote Jan. 9.

Mentioned as contenders for the GOP post are:

. Former state Rep. Randy Bumps, who has been U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ state director and representative to the GOP state committee and served as executive director of the Bush-Cheney campaign organization in Maine;

. Former state Sen. John Hathaway, who unsuccessfully sought a Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 1996 and who mounted a short-lived candidacy for governor in 2002;

. Penobscot County state committeeman Andre Cushing.

Contenders in the Democratic field could include:

. Outgoing speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Patrick Colwell, whose candidacy has been “encouraged” by Gov. John Baldacci, according to gubernatorial spokesman Lee Umphrey;

. Former Chairman Anthony Buxton, an energy lawyer and lobbyist who served as finance chairman of the Kerry-Edwards campaign in Maine;

. Alison Smith, who has been a League of Women Voters activist, worked for the Maine Citizen Leadership Fund and supported Howard Dean’s presidential candidacy;

. Carl Pease, vice chairman of state rules committee and board member of the fledgling Maine Progressive Caucus;

. Democratic Party Vice Chairman David Garrity.

Democrats and Republicans came away from Election Day with much to talk about, even though in many ways voting in Maine affirmed the status quo.

While President Bush won re-election, he lost for a second time in the state where his family has long maintained a summer home.

Neither of Maine’s Republican U.S. senators – Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins – was on the ballot and both Democratic congressmen, Tom Allen in the 1st District and Michael Michaud in the 2nd, won new terms with relative ease.

Baldacci, at midterm, stands to have Democratic majorities again in the state Senate and House of Representatives.

The Senate remains split 18-17, while House Democrats, barring a series of postelection reversals, cling to control of that chamber by a smaller margin than they claimed two years ago.

Three House election disputes remain unresolved and the next step may be to bring them before a committee in the new House.

For now, Democrats appear to hold a bare majority of 76 in the 151-member House. Republicans seem to have taken 73 seats, with one going to a Green Independent and one to a candidate not enrolled in any party.