AUGUSTA – While the official business of the day was party organization, the rumblings beneath Saturday’s Maine Green Independent Party convention were about a Blaine House challenge.

“It’s going up in direct proportion to [Gov. John] Baldacci’s approvals going down,” said 2004 Green Party vice presidential candidate Pat LaMarche of the potential for her 2006 gubernatorial candidacy, which she now places at “50-50.”

LaMarche, 44, of Yarmouth is considered one of the Greens’ most likely candidates for the job, in which Baldacci has experienced declining approval ratings in recent months.

With one survey showing the Bangor Democrat’s approval ratings at just 43 percent, the names of potential challengers have flowed freely in recent weeks.

Former U.S. Rep. David Emery, a Republican, has already announced his candidacy, as has independent Nancy Oden, an environmental activist from Jonesboro with Green Party roots.

If LaMarche decides to run, Maine Green Independent Party officials speculate she could face a primary challenger, marking the party’s first contested gubernatorial primary.

That challenge, however, will not be from the party’s 1994 and 2002 nominee, Jonathan Carter.

“I won’t be running,” Carter said in an interview outside the small, shingled convention hall, where about 50 members gathered amid whirring fans on a steamy Saturday afternoon.

While Baldacci’s approval ratings might be down, 18 months is an eternity in politics, and pundits warn against counting out the Democrat, who has proven his ability to connect with voters, having won four congressional contests – three of them handily – and several terms in the Maine Senate.

“He’s a good campaigner, and a lot can happen in a year or so,” said University of Maine political analyst Amy Fried.

During a break in the convention, Green Party chairwoman Heather “Betsy” Garrold held out hope for a bruising GOP primary and a weak Baldacci going into the 2006 campaign.

“All the better for us,” said Garrold, who is delighted at the prospect of a three-way GOP primary featuring Emery, Maine Sen. Peter Mills and the party’s 2002 nominee, former state Rep. Peter Cianchette.

Both Mills and Cianchette have said they are considering candidacies.

Another Republican, Bangor resident Stephen Stimpson, has also filed his intent to run for governor using public funds.

Even if LaMarche decides not to run, the Greens will almost certainly field a candidate. That candidate must win 5 percent of the vote according to state election law or the party will lose its official status, making fund-raising and balloting more difficult.

A bill that would change that requirement and base party status on membership was carried over until the next Legislative session.

First organized in 1984, the Maine Greens gained official recognition in Maine a decade later based on Carter’s vote total in the 1994 gubernatorial election and claimed the distinction of being the oldest state Green Party in the nation.

The Greens were later disqualified as an official party, but with LaMarche’s 1998 finish in the Blaine House race they regained state recognition and were reconstituted as the Green Independent Party, which now has 19,000 members.

Also at Saturday’s convention, members rejected a plan to restructure the party’s steering committee to more closely resemble that of the Republican and Democratic parties.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.