House to consider sharing power Rep. Merrill turns independent, upsetting party leadership

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AUGUSTA – For the second time in 10 years, the Democratic party has lost majority control of the House and is being forced to consider sharing power with Republicans.

On Friday, state Rep. Barbara Merrill of Appleton became the latest Democrat to abandon the party faithful to become an unenrolled, or independent, lawmaker. A rising firebrand in Maine politics, Merrill said Tuesday she removed herself from the party ranks because she believes the state’s Democratic leaders have lost touch with average Mainers.

Merrill’s change in political status now leaves the 151-member House of Representatives divided among 73 Democrats, 73 Republicans, 1 Green Independent Party member and four independent legislators.

The Senate remains controlled by Democrats, who hold 19 seats to the GOP’s 16.

Republicans quickly seized the moment Tuesday and sent a memo to House Speaker John Richardson, D-Brunswick, requesting immediate power-sharing negotiations to obtain equity in committee chairmanships, assignments and allocation of partisan staff.

Currently, there are no GOP House chairs on any of the 17 joint standing committees and Republicans are outnumbered on several key panels. For example, the 13-member Appropriations Committee, where many of the last-minute, late-night, spending decisions are made, has a House Democratic chairman and a total of six Democrats to only four House Republicans.

Reflecting the majority in the Senate, there are two Democratic senators and one Republican senator on each committee.

As lawmakers return to Augusta today for the start of the second year of the two-year session, Richardson will be pressured to meet as many Republican demands as possible without imperiling the Democratic agenda – a balance he may be unable to achieve.

With only four months remaining in the last half of the 122nd Legislature, the speaker will have to weigh the benefits of taking an even-handed approach in addressing the new political landscape in the House against assuming a less flexible position which could lead to GOP calls for a new presiding officer.

House GOP leader David Bowles of Sanford and Richardson said the recall of the speaker would require two-thirds support of the membership, but others maintained the House is also free to adopt rule changes that could remove the speaker with a simple majority vote.

On Tuesday, however, no one was talking about trying to oust Richardson, who repeatedly professed a willingness to engage his Republican counterparts in discussions about what changes could be realistically accomplished at mid-session. At the same time though, he said he was “not required” and couldn’t “be forced” to make changes.

“Certainly I want to do the Maine people’s business and work together and hear what the Republicans’ concerns might be as I always have,” Richardson said. “… So we need to sit down and everyone will air their concerns, and we’ll see what happens from those discussions.”

“The fact of the matter is we’re going to sit down with the speaker and negotiate a more equitable arrangement, and I think the speaker will be amenable to some accommodation,” Bowles said.

Democrats have held a majority in the House for about three decades, except in 1996 when another Democrat switched to independent, leaving the two major parties with 75 members each.

At that time, Speaker Dan Gwadosky gave in to GOP pressure and assigned chairmanships to Republicans on eight of the 17 committees.

Merrill’s defection from the Democratic ranks comes on the heels of two others during Richardson’s watch. Late last year, Reps. Thomas Saviello of Wilton and Joanne Twomey of Biddeford announced they were abandoning the party to become independents. Last week, Penobscot Indian Nation Rep. Donna Loring of Richmond gave up her 40-year association with the Democratic party to become a Republican. Loring’s move was perceived as a personal decision that held little consequence for the balance of power in the House since tribal representatives are not extended voting privileges.

Richardson said Tuesday Merrill had not discussed her intention to leave the party with him prior to re-registering.

“She did not call me. I did not learn of her decision until 9:30 this morning,” Richardson said Tuesday. “These are tough decisions on the part of people. They’re personal decisions. I respect their decisions. They only have to account to the people they serve.”

Merrill’s disaffection with the Democratic Party blossomed last year during negotiations over appropriations, and she ultimately was among the tiny minority of Democrats who did not vote for the state budget because of its spending priorities and financing mechanisms. She also said she plans to announce within the next two weeks whether to run for governor as an independent.

“I think Gov. Baldacci’s and Democratic leadership’s current policies are going to be the death knell of northern Maine,” Merrill said. “It’s all about emptying out northern Maine and will end up costing all of us much more money.”

While Merrill felt she could no longer work with Democratic leaders like Richardson, Bowles said he has always found the speaker to be a reasonable man and suggested that Democrats should be aware that everything that comes around goes around at the State House.

“We have an election cycle coming up ahead, and there are many who fully expect Republicans to capture the House,” Bowles said. “It’s not only incumbent upon the Democrats, but wise of the Democrats at this point to be more accommodating to Republicans. If the shoe is overturned during the next election cycle, they’re going to be looking for fair treatment from our speaker.”