SOUTH PORTLAND – Navy reservist Charlie Summers isn’t letting a yearlong assignment in Iraq interfere with his second run for Congress.

Three days before he reports to active duty, the former regional administrator of the Small Business Administration became the first Republican to enter the race for the 1st District seat that six-term Democrat Tom Allen is giving up to challenge GOP Sen. Susan Collins.

In his announcement Tuesday, Summers said he will be in Iraq through much of the campaign, leaving his wife, Ruth, as his stand-in through next June’s primary and into much of the summer.

“She will be a major and integral part of my campaign after I leave for Baghdad,” said Summers, a lieutenant commander who has been assigned to serve with Naval Strategic Communications in the Iraqi capital’s Green Zone.

While apparently not an issue during past wars, restrictions on candidates or officeholders serving on active duty have come into play in Iraq because of the high percentage of reservists and National Guard troops called to duty.

A small number of state lawmakers have been elected or held office while serving in the war zone. At least one, a member of the Hawaii National Guard, was barred from serving in the Legislature while on active duty in Iraq.

Defense Department regulations bar candidates from running for office while on active duty. Summers said it was easy to obtain a waiver by going through regular Navy channels and that he will not be the only service member in Iraq seeking a congressional seat in 2008.

Marine reservist Duncan Duane Hunter has been recalled to active duty but plans to continue to run for the California House seat being vacated by his father, 14-term Rep. Duncan Hunter, who is waging a long-shot bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

The younger Hunter expects to return to California in ample time for his state’s June primary, but Summers is counting on his wife to represent him in debates and campaign appearances before the primary in Maine.

Ruth Summers is used to the call of duty. Her father spent 22 years in the Marine Corps and she serves in the Navy Reserve.

“As soon as I get back, we’ll hit the ground running,” he said.

In addition to his wife, Summers, 45, of Scarborough, was joined by a couple dozen supporters, including Rep. Thad McCotter of Michigan, who chairs the Republican House Policy Committee and is in charge of recruiting GOP congressional candidates.

In his campaign kickoff, Summers steered clear of President Bush’s unpopular war in Iraq. He vowed to make energy independence the central issue of his campaign but stopped short of outlining how he would address it.

“It’s the critical issue of our generation,” he said. “It relates not only to our economic security but to our national security.”

Summers, a two-term state senator who served for nine years as Sen. Olympia Snowe’s state director, was unopposed in the Republican congressional primary in 2004. He went on to lose to Allen, who outpolled him 60 percent to 40 percent.

Democrats who have either announced their candidacies or are weighing entry into next year’s 1st District race include Michael Brennan, Adam Cote, Jill Duson, Chellie Pingree, Mark Lawrence and Ethan Strimling.

Summers is the first Republican entry. Others mentioned as potential candidates include Steve Abbott, Jon Courtney, Darlene Curley, Phil Harriman and Dean Scontras.