AUGUSTA – Democratic State Committee members elected a new chairman Sunday, putting Hancock County party leader John Knutson of Brooklin atop the hierarchy of the state organization.

Knutson, a retired businessman touted by supporters as one who could professionalize party operations, defeated Eric Mehnert of Orono, a lawyer who unsuccessfully sought the party’s U.S. Senate nomination last year.

Knutson succeeds Ben Dudley, a former legislator from Portland who recently announced he would be stepping down as chairman. The Maine Civic Engagement Project, also known as Maine Blueprint, has announced it is hiring Dudley to become executive director.

Addressing state committee members at a special meeting at Augusta City Hall, Knutson laid out a detailed list of actions he plans to undertake ranging from conferring with local party activists on ways to maximize the state’s committee’s role to stabilizing the organization’s fundraising process.

Party officials said that under Knutson’s leadership, the average annual budget for Hancock County Democratic Committee grew from $5,000 to more than $30,000.

Heading into the heart of the 2008 election cycle, Knutson – as did Mehnert – called for a grass-roots focus to party activities.

Parts of Sunday’s question-and-answer session for the two candidates for the chairmanship hinted at the occasional tensions between the county-oriented state committee and various top-of-the-ticket candidate campaigns.

Hancock County is the locale for this year’s annual Democratic summer fundraiser, the Edmund S. Muskie Lobster Bake. The Muskie event is being held Saturday at Lamoine State Park.

Leading the state Democratic ticket in 2008 will be U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, the six-term congressman from Portland seeking to deny Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins re-election to a third term.

Multicandidate fields of Democrats and Republicans, meanwhile, are lining up in hopes of succeeding Allen in Maine’s 1st Congressional District.