AUGUSTA – Pollsters in Maine such as Patrick Murphy aren’t exactly picking out the colors of their new BMWs yet. But an explosion of candidates for the state’s 2002 campaign cycle is as good as money in the bank for those who earn their livelihoods as political consultants.

“It’s going to be a banner year,” predicted Murphy, who heads the Strategic Marketing Services group in Portland.

After almost a decade of lackluster political races, voters in Maine are gearing up for what election watchers described Wednesday as one of the most competitive campaign seasons in years triggered by open races for governor and the 2nd Congressional District seat. Ratcheting up the level of activity is the Maine Clean Elections Act, which for the first time will make “clean” gubernatorial candidates eligible for up to $1.2 million in public election funds.

An announcement Tuesday by former state Senate Majority Leader Chellie Pingree also energized the race for a U.S. Senate seat. The North Haven Democrat plans to seek her party’s nomination to oppose Susan M. Collins, a first-term Republican. Pingree attracted national attention last year after sponsoring legislation to lower prescription drug prices in Maine. The law prompted a legal challenge from the pharmaceutical industry that is awaiting a decision in Boston’s 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Pingree maintains medical costs are still an overriding concern for older Mainers, who make up an increasingly larger segment of the state’s 1.2 million residents. The prescription drug issue, she claimed, is one area where Collins is vulnerable. She plans to link the Bangor Republican with the current national agenda set by President Bush, who lost Maine with 44 percent of the vote. Al Gore collected 49.1 percent of the Maine vote.

“We expect our politicians to tell the truth. And keep their word,” Pingree told supporters during press conferences in Portland and Bangor on Tuesday. “But the administration that’s in power in Washington today is not keeping its word to our senior citizens and to all who will come next.”

Pingree faces likely opposition in what is shaping up as a very active 2002 primary season. With the official filing deadlines still months away, three other Democrats are already signaling interest in the Senate seat, a position that was not Pingree’s first choice. Earlier this month she resolved to abandon her quest for the governor’s office, which will be vacated by independent Gov. Angus S. King, who is barred by Maine’s Constitution from serving more than two consecutive four-year terms.

“I was seriously thinking about the gubernatorial race,” Pingree said. “I just started thinking that I can take the issues that I care about, like prescription drugs, to Washington and fight the fight there. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like the race I wanted to be in.”

Pingree’s decision may have hinged in part on 2nd District Rep. John Baldacci’s announcement earlier this year that he would seek the Democratic nomination for governor. The popular career politician and sometime restaurateur from Bangor quickly locked up the core support of Maine Democrats in a high-profile press conference, leaving Pingree in the political afterglow. Although Baldacci has no primary opposition at this time, no less than five Republicans have already expressed a desire to oppose him.

Additionally, two potential independent candidates have announced the creation of exploratory committees to seek the governorship. Jonathan Carter, a former gubernatorial candidate for Maine’s Green independent party, is also weighing a bid either as a Green independent or as an independent.

The open seat in the 2nd District has attracted the interest of nine Democrats, four Republicans and one independent, swelling the potential pool of candidates for all three offices to 27.

“I think it’s going to be the best political season in a long, long time,” said Christian Potholm, a Bowdoin political science professor and part-time pollster. “You’ve got a real contest for Congress and a real contest for governor.”

Real contests have been hard to find in recent Maine elections. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, a Falmouth Republican, defeated her opponent last year with 68.9 percent of the vote. Democratic Rep. Tom Allen of Portland won 59.8 percent of the vote in a three-way race that same year to successfully defend his 1st District seat. And, in the 2nd District, Baldacci defeated his challenger with 73.4 percent of the vote.

But the races likely will be much closer next year. Potholm and Dennis Bailey, a political consultant and former campaign worker and press secretary to Gov. King, agreed that Maine’s new Clean Election Act will level the playing field for those who choose to run as publicly financed candidates. Under the law approved in 1996 by Maine voters, gubernatorial candidates who refuse private contributions are eligible to receive up to $1.2 million in public funding. In order to qualify for “clean” funding, candidates must collect 2,200 $5 contributions, which are turned over to the state elections commission.

“Baldacci won’t be rolling as easily in the fall as he is right now,” Potholm said. “He’ll have the independent candidates to deal with and right now, anybody in Maine who can collect 2,200 $5 contributions can get $1 million. The Clean Elections law has changed everything.”

Bailey agreed and emphasized that Carter had picked up 6 percent of the gubernatorial vote in 1994 with a campaign war chest of only $70,000.

“It’s going to be a free-for-all on spending on the state side because you’ll have independent candidates with a lot of money,” Bailey said. “Jonathan Carter was dangerous before, but with a million dollars, he’s that much more dangerous.”

Carter, who has been known to peel off support from the Democratic Party’s liberal wing, could pose a significant threat to the party’s nominee. Gwethalyn Phillips, a Bangor resident who serves as Maine’s Democratic Party state chairwoman, said the likelihood of one or more independent candidates in the gubernatorial race would force Democrats to work that much harder for victory.

“It’s not new to us; this has been going on since 1990 and it’s something we’ve lived with for a long time,” she said. “We intend to fight a very hard fight.”