Maine Gov. John Baldacci (D) is term limited, and there are five candidates on the ballot (and several write-ins) vying to replace him. The ballot will feature:
Eliot Cutler (I)
Paul LePage (R-Tea Party)
Libby Mitchell (D)
Shawn Moody (I)
Kevin Scott (I)
Maine has fairly stringent campaign finance reporting requirements, and Friday brought news that the Republican Governors Association, through its RGA Maine 2010 PAC, has spent $354,083.20 on a TV ad buy in support of LePage and against both Cutler and Mitchell.
Such spending "from away," as we say here, is really unheard of in Maine.
And it seems that there is more to come. RGA Maine 2010 PAC submitted their financial report (pdf) for the last quarter on 13 October, and it shows they have raised $525,000, none of which came from within Maine. The top contributors:
$225,000 from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce
$50,000 from MAXIMUS of Reston, Virginia
$25,000 from Ashers of Souderton, Pennsylvania
$25,000 from Castellin of Cincinnati, Ohio
$25,000 from Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, Des Plaines, Illinois
$25,000 from ResCare from Louisville, Kentucky
$25,000 from Sellers Dorsey & Associates, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
$25,000 from Shamrock Foods of Phoenix, Arizona
I have no idea why the Michigan Chamber of Commerce is concerned about who the governor of Maine is (I was born and reared there, and still visit my mom in the Thumb). But looking at some of the others, a theme becomes clear:
There are profits to be made as a teabagger cuts State programs to have them privatized instead.
ResCare, for example, not only provides social services, but has a charter school division as well. If any of you have info on some of the others, please email me at gerald at dirigoblue dot com. I appreciate it.