Democrat Libby Mitchell, Republican Paul LePage Take Maine Primaries

Waldoboro, Maine -- I remember the first time I voted in Maine 18 years ago. I had moved here from Oregon, where things are a bit more modern. I walked into my little town hall, open only two afternoons a week, and manned by two elderly women, each with their own antiquated typewriters, but having to share one ribbon. As I got up to the table to get my ballots, I was handed a pencil, the kind you use when playing miniature golf, and two slips of paper. It was hard for me to believe that I was actually casting a ballot and not jotting down a grocery list. Many years later, not a whole lot has changed, but now I do have faith that I am indeed voting.

The 2010 gubernatorial primary was greatly anticipated despite the fact that a low voter turnout of approximately 20 percent of voters predicted to vote. With seven GOP candidates running, and four Democrats, most Mainers were undecided , as there were so many candidates that no one seemed to know what any one of them stood for in terms of goals, should they be elected. Voter turnout was indeed low, but the field was whittled down to two, nonetheless.

Going into the primary, as close at the day before, there was no clear front runner for either party. Republican Peter Mills, a long-time Maine state legislator, was predicted to win, with Paul LePage, former mayor of Waterville, touted as the darkhorse who might surprise everyone one with a better-than-expected slice of the vote.

On the Democratic side, Elizabeth "Libby" Mitchell, Maine State Senate President, was expected to win, with small business woman, Rosa Scarcelli predicted to have a surprising strong showing despite her lack of political experience. Steve Rowe, a former Secretary of State, was the biggest threat to Libby Mitchell.

As I drove to my polling place, I passed a gathering of LePage supporters on the side of the road, waving campaign signs and wearing LePage t-shirts. As I walked into my polling place, much busier than I had ever seen it, probably due to the fact that I was voting at 5:30 p.m., Democratic senate hopeful for District 50 (and hoping to upset incumbent David Trahan) was holding the door open for voters as they entered, and introducing himself. Chatter in the long line revealed that many voters did not know for whom they vote, and would decide once they got inside the voting booth. Many had come simply to vote for four important state referendums.

Maine is a poor state, and not expected to recover the recession until a year or two after the rest of the country, so most of the candidates for governor campaigned on the promise of creating much needed new jobs. Maine is also a small state by populations, so I had a "one away" knowledge of several candidates, such as Rosa Scarcelli, who is the sister of one of my son's good friends, GOP candidate Steve Abbott, whom another son worked under while he interned for state Senator Susan Collins and independent candidate, Elliot Cutler, whose children went to school with several of my own kids.

While I had initially planned to vote for GOP candidate Peter Mills, I chose to vote for Steve Abbot at the last minute, on the strong recommendation of my son, a PhD candidate studying political science. Later last night, as the election votes began to be counted, Libby Mitchell had slim margin over Steve Rowe, with Scarcelli trailing in third place. The GOP frontrunner was, unexpectedly, Paul LePage, well ahead of Peter Mills. LePage had predicted that he would have a strong showing in northern Maine, and he was right.

I turned my attentions to the NBA finals, cheering on the Celtics, and by the end of the game, not only had the Celtics lost, but Mills had conceded, and LePage had been chosen as the GOP candidate for governor. Libby Mitchell had also declared the Democratic candidate for the fall election. Not only was I surprised that both races had been called by 11:30 p.m., I was equally surprise that LePage, not Mills, had come out on top for the GOP.

Mainers tend to identify more strongly with working class candidates, and this was once again proven again by the LePage win. And now the campaign really begins. Mainers no longer have to sort out the views of 14 candidates, and can begin to focus on getting to know that platforms of the two left standing -- Democrat Libby Mitchell and Republican Paul LePage.

It promises to be an interesting race.

Source:

Vote 2010
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