Four independents secure spots on ballot for gubernatorial race

Four independent candidates submitted enough signatures by Thursday’s deadline to earn a place on the November ballot for governor, according to state elections officials.

John Michael, a former state representative from Auburn, and Phillip Morris NaPier of Windham each submitted more than the 4,000 signatures Thursday needed to qualify for the general election ballot.

The two men join fellow independents David John Jones, a businessman from Falmouth, and Barbara Merrill, a state representative from Appleton, both of whom had already qualified.

In descending order, Merrill submitted 4,532 valid signatures; Michael, 4,361; Jones, 4,132; and NaPier, 4,037.

“It took a while,” said Jones, who, like Merrill and Michael, is now concentrating on meeting today’s deadline to qualify for public financing of their gubernatorial campaigns.

Thursday’s deadline further thinned the field in the governor’s race, with several announced candidates failing to turn in their signatures before the 5 p.m. cutoff.

Independent candidates who did not meet the deadline were Bruce Coyne of Kennebunk, Alex Hammer of Bangor, John Jenkins of Lewiston and Jeffrey Sanborn of Fryeburg.

Nancy Oden of Jonesboro, who had earlier dropped her independent bid for governor, instead qualified as a state senate candidate in District 28 in Washington County.

But securing a spot on the statewide ballot and running an effective campaign are not one in the same, pundits say, and today’s deadline to qualify for public financing is likely to be far more indicative of a campaign’s viability.

“It is absolutely essential for any of the independents running to qualify for Clean Election money,” said Mark Brewer, a political scientist from the University of Maine. “None are independently wealthy, as far as I know, and it’s unlikely any of them would be able to raise a significant amount of money.”

To qualify for public financing, independent gubernatorial candidates must turn in at least 2,500 checks of $5 each by 5 p.m. today.

If any of them do qualify, they each will receive an initial payment of $400,000 and up to an additional $800,000 in matching funds depending on how much privately financed candidates spend in the race.

Jones said Thursday he was about 300 checks away from reaching the 2,500 mark. Merrill, who could not be reached Thursday, is also reportedly close to qualifying. Michael could not be reached for comment.

NaPier is running as a privately financed candidate.

The four independent – or unenrolled – candidates will share the November ballot with Maine Green Independent Party nominee Pat LaMarche of Yarmouth and the winners of the Democratic and Republican primaries set for June 13.

In the Democratic primary, Gov. John Baldacci of Bangor is a heavy favorite against political newcomer Christopher Miller of Gray.

The GOP primary features former U.S. Rep. David Emery of St. George and state Sens. Peter Mills of Cornville and Chandler Woodcock of Farmington.

In other major independent candidacies, Dexter Kamilewicz of Orr’s Island qualified for a spot on the ballot in his run for the 1st Congressional District seat, as has Bill Slavick of Portland, who is running for the U.S. Senate currently held by Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe.