Gov. Who? Under the rader: Political outsiders seek elusive name recognition

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BANGOR – His mobile cappuccino stand is winterized and parked safely in his driveway, and Steve Stimpson is taking a little time off after the summer fair season before starting his next job: running for governor.

“The people I’ve talked to don’t want to vote for anybody they’ve heard of,” said the 46-year-old Bangor Republican, recounting his recent stop at the Fryeburg Fair, where he divided his time between selling coffee and talking politics with willing customers.

Stimpson, who has never held public office, is one of eight candidates thus far to declare their Blaine House candidacies for 2006.

Some names, like incumbent Gov. John Baldacci or, perhaps, Republican state Sen. Peter Mills of Cornville, you probably recognize. Others, like Stimpson or Alex Hammer of Bangor or Bobby Mills of Biddeford, you probably don’t.

At least five candidates – including Stimpson, Hammer and Bobby Mills – plan to use public financing for their campaigns if they can demonstrate enough support in the coming months to qualify for a piece of the increasingly popular Maine Clean Elections Fund.

The current field also includes Chandler Woodcock of Farmington, who has registered as a publicly funded candidate. Former Republican U.S. Rep. David Emery is expected to announce his privately funded candidacy Monday.

The high interest – and the distinct possibility of others, namely 1998 Green Party nominee Pat LaMarche, entering the race – has state elections officials crunching the budget numbers again, wondering if they will have enough “clean” cash in the bank to accommodate all those wishing to knock off Baldacci in 2006.

Current estimates suggest the total could reach $6.6 million – about $2 million more than anticipated – and could force the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices to ask the Legislature for more money.

“We need to take a look at the likely scenarios and decide what, if anything, we need to do,” said Jonathan Wayne, director of the commission, which had budgeted $4.6 million for the governor’s race.

Beginning Nov. 1, “clean” candidates for governor can begin collecting 2,500 $5 checks and, then beginning Jan. 1, 2006, between 2,000 and 4,000 signatures – depending on whether they are enrolled in a party. If they are successful, they could qualify for up to $1.6 million in public money for their campaigns.

Fresh off her own campaign tour of summer fairs – minus the concessions stand – Nancy Oden of Jonesboro is taking the next two weeks to wade through her clean elections paperwork and contact volunteers as she prepares her own independent candidacy for governor.

“This is my life. I’m running for office and I hardly ever leave the house,” joked Oden, a 66-year-old environmental activist and organic farmer. “I might not leave the house much, but my material is getting out there.”

The outsiders

For political outsiders, their names and messages don’t often travel far without money – or rather its ability to buy precious advertising time.

Thus far in the campaign, Oden’s media exposure has been largely limited to coverage of her announcement, a recent interview on Maine Public Radio and one-line mentions in stories on the governor’s race. However, the hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be heading her way should she qualify for public funding would open the possibility of a statewide media campaign to spread her message, which calls for an end to corporate influence on Maine politics and policymaking and encourages policies to promote organic farming.

Stimpson, a tall, slender man with a ponytail, tattoo and a raspy voice, does not look or sound like a typical politician, and his plan to cut the state budget by 20 percent over four years and return the money to taxpayers might seem drastic to some. But after the airing of a recent interview on WGME-TV, Channel 13, in Portland, Stimpson said he has received positive feedback.

“People realize it’s the truth,” said Stimpson, who has also vowed not to seek a second term and return half of his gubernatorial salary.

For both Stimpson and Oden, this is technically their second run for governor. Both ran write-in candidacies in 1994, the year independent Angus King was able to overcome early anonymity to best Democrat Joe Brennan, Republican Susan Collins and Green Jonathan Carter.

But for political outsiders hoping to repeat King’s upset win – or that of Maine’s other independent governor, James Longley – the road might not be so smooth, said Colby College political analyst L. Sandy Maisel.

Although Longley had never held public office, he did have statewide name recognition as the chairman of a high-profile commission to reduce government waste before becoming governor in 1975.

Similarly, Angus King had become a household name – and within some politically powerful households – as the longtime host of the public television show “Maine Watch.”

“The people who watch ‘Maine Watch’ aren’t your typical snowmobiler and Johnny Six-pack,” said Maisel, who also pegged King’s success on voters’ dissatisfaction with both major parties in the midst of a government shutdown in Augusta.

“When Angus ran, it was a pox on both your houses,” Maisel, a Democrat, said. “That does not apply today. People just aren’t steaming to break down the State House door.”

“These people virtually have no chance,” he said of the lesser known candidates.

Dennis Bailey, who worked on King’s first campaign in 1994, agreed with Maisel’s characterization of voter sentiment during King’s 1994 run. But he wasn’t as quick to discount the potential appeal of a well-funded independent candidate in today’s political climate.

“With a million bucks, you should be able to run a very credible campaign,” Bailey said. “Somebody might catch fire. I just haven’t seen them yet.”

Clean sweep

Oden, Stimpson and Bobby Mills, who is also running as an independent, aren’t surprised by – but don’t agree with – those who say their campaigns are exercises in futility.

“The pundits are going to hate my campaign,” said Oden, who blamed the “so-called political experts” and the mainstream media for perpetuating the two-party, money-driven system. “But people are tired of more of the same.”

Bobby Mills, chairman of the unofficial U.S. Veterans Party of Maine, said his major goal is to raise awareness of veterans issues, which he feels have been neglected by the current administration.

“It’s everybody’s opportunity to participate in the government process,” said the 40-year-old property manager from Biddeford. “People have no right to complain if they don’t participate.”

Participation, in this case, could result in a significant consolation prize even if these political outsiders fall short of their goal of winning the election. Under state election law, those independent candidates who emerge from the general election with more than 5 percent of the vote have the opportunity to form their own political parties, which, as in the case of the Maine Green Independent Party, can grow and gain some political power.

Although some of the declared candidates for governor probably won’t gather enough signatures or donations to qualify for public funding, the high level of interest in the 2006 governor’s race comes as welcome news to supporters of the clean elections law.

“We always wanted it to be about voter choice,” said Doug Clopp of the Maine Citizen Leadership Fund, a group that has kept close tabs on any attempts to change the law.

One such attempt came earlier this week on the heels of an investigation into abuse of the clean elections system. House Majority Leader Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, introduced legislation to increase the number of $5 donations candidates must gather to qualify for public financing, and require candidates to raise “seed money.”

In the governor’s race, that would mean candidates beginning in 2008 would need to gather 3,000 $5 donations and raise an additional $50,000 in “seed money,” which is currently optional, before gaining access to the clean elections fund.

“This is very difficult in the first place,” Oden said in reaction to the proposed changes, which she said would effectively shut out potential candidates, such as herself, with limited financial means. “It is just another attempt to narrow our democracy.”

Maine’s clean elections fund has delivered on its promise of increasing access to the ballot and leveling the political playing field in legislative races, but its impact on the governor’s race remains unclear.

Only two gubernatorial candidates – Republican Jim Libby and Green Jonathan Carter – have qualified for public money since it became available in 2000.

Libby, of Buxton, spent about $300,000 in his loss to his privately funded opponent, former state Rep. Peter Cianchette of South Portland, in the 2002 GOP primary.

That same year, Carter, of Lexington Township, spent close to $1 million on his campaign but finished far behind Baldacci and Cianchette with just 9 percent of the vote – up from about 6 percent in his privately funded run in 1994.

Those showings, according to Maisel, demonstrate the need for a candidate to show a higher level of support before taxpayers are asked to foot the bill for a statewide campaign.

“I love the fact that anybody can run,” said Maisel, who suggested quadrupling the number of donations needed to qualify for public financing. “But that doesn’t mean I have to pay for it.”