Over the course of the last few months, six Democrats participated in gubernatorial forums (that number has now been reduced to four), and we endeavored to live blog each of those that were streamed online. If you are still undecided on a candidate, or want to refresh yourself about where they stand, these live blog threads may be of help.
Alas, some technical difficulties put the kibosh on some them, but below you can find the list of those that did occur.
John Richardson announced that he will withdraw from the governor's race. Richardson, of Brunswick, withdrew in light of his failure to qualify for Clean Election funding.
The Maine Ethics Commission denied his application for such funds due to irregularities in his submittal. You can read the letter from Commission Jonathan Wayne here (pdf warning). Richardson is not implicated in the regularities, but without the Clean Elections funds, he would not be able to run a credible claim.
2010 MAINE DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY Questionnaire on Education
In the first of a seven-part series, each of the Democratic candidates for governor have responded to a series of questions on education compiled by Bruce Bourgoine, Derek Viger of the Augusta Insider, and Gerald Weinand, editor of Dirigo Blue. The remaining questions and responses will appear over the next six days at 10:00 a.m.
We invite your comments and questions.
Question to the candidate: School funding flowing from the state to local communities is now unpredictable and inconsistent. Substantial declines in state appropriated levels and curtailment orders have hampered the ability of local communities to make reliable long range program plans and forced deep unexpected reactive cuts. This situation has shifted funding reliability away from broad based state funding to placing greater emphasis on regressive property taxing which in turn often leads to further reductions in education funding to avoid local tax increases. Would you act to stabilize the predictability of education funding from the state and by what means and to what degree? If you would not undertake action to stabilize the predictability of education funding from the state, please explain why not and/or any alternative approaches that you would offer.
You can find their responses, in random order determined by lot, below the fold.
Gagnon is also reporting that at least one person associated with Richardson's campaign, but not Richardson himself, will be facing criminal charges regarding qualifying contributions to Richardson's Clean Election campaign. It appears that at least some of the contributions were fraudulent.
On Tuesday, March 16th, the LINCOLN COUNTY DEMOCRATS will host a panel of Democratic candidates running for Governor. The panel will be held at MOBIUS in DAMARISCOTTA, next to Rising Tide and across from Yellowfront from 6 p.m to 8 p.m.
Panelists will include: DONNA DION, LIBBY MITCHELL, JOHN RICHARDSON, STEVE ROWE, and ROSA SCARCELLI. The format for the evening will include questions from the moderator, presentations by candidates and will end with questions from the audience.
For more information about the panel call: 380-5103. For information about other events and activities of the Lincoln County Democrats, visit the web site: www.lincolncountydemocrats.com
Tonight beginning at 7:00 p.m., the South Portland Democrats are hosting the first of four Democratic Gubernatotial Forums. This first one will focus on jobs creation.
You can live stream it here, then clicking on the SPC-TV Live button in the menu you see at the right.
Please use post your comments below, and be polite.
On Monday, candidate for governor Rosa Scarcelli issued a challenge to her Democratic opponents regarding their opposition to "mandatory background checks on purchase of a firearm."
In it she wrote:
The time has come to require mandatory criminal background checks on purchases of firearms. Frankly, I was surprised recently when every one of my Democratic opponents said they opposed such a common sense safety measure. Asked at a debate sponsored by the Associated General Contractors of Maine if they support a mandatory criminal background check for the purchase of firearms, Libby Mitchell, Steve Rowe, John Richardson and Pat McGowan all said "NO." Are they thinking about what's best for Maine or what they think is best for their political campaigns?
In an email to me, Steve Rowe had this response:
Complex issues demand and deserve more than one word solutions.
The question asked at the AGC forum had some faulty premises: it failed to note that federal law already requires criminal background checks for the sale of firearms by federally licensed firearm dealers. I support that law. This law does not apply to many sales at gun shows; I support closing this so-called "gun show loophole," as well as similar loopholes that currently allow kids and criminals to buy guns. My support for closing the gun show loophole is a matter of public record.
However, there are and should continue to be exceptions to requiring criminal background checks for every gun transfer: for example, a father selling or giving a hunting rifle to his son. I grew up hunting, and support a person's Constitutional right to possess a firearm. As Governor, I'll protect the Constitutional rights of law-abiding Mainers, while making sure criminals and unsupervised young children don't have access to firearms. And, of course, I will build on my life's work of making Maine safer.
As Attorney General, I sat with grieving parents and children who had their daughters and mothers taken from them by unthinkable acts of violence. I worked tirelessly to prevent domestic abuse and to protect victims, leading the effort to enact a law to protect victims of domestic violence during the time when they are most vulnerable -- when they leave the abuser. I worked to modernize Maine's stalking laws and implemented visionary programs aimed at connecting victims to help. For that work, I received National Sexual Violence Resource Center Visionary Voice Award, the only state Attorney General to receive that award. As Governor, I will continue to work to prevent domestic violence and to protect its victims."
This landed in my mailbox earlier, and since the campaign hasn't show any interest in posting it, figured I would.
A Challenge to My Democratic Opponents
by Rosa Scarcelli
A report last week that failed to get a great deal of attention raised important - and disturbing - questions about the relationship between domestic violence and murder in Maine, and whether the state is doing enough to combat this insidious problem.
The report, released last week by the Maine Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Panel, found that 65% of homicides in 2008 were the result of domestic violence, and 35% of the victims in last year's homicides were killed by a family or household member. Most of the homicides were committed with firearms.
The cost of domestic violence cannot be measured in lost lives alone. Children who live in households where domestic violence occurs are often scarred by the experience requiring years of counseling and treatment. Many continue the cycle of domestic violence in their later lives. Dealing with these incidents costs the state as much as $1.5 billion a year in law enforcement, court costs, corrections, child protection and mental health services.
So what can be done?
The report recommends education and awareness starting at a very early age. More training of law-enforcement personnel, more protective services and greater use of protection from abuse orders are also recommended.
These are clearly important steps, but I would go one step further.
The time has come to require mandatory criminal background checks on purchases of firearms. Frankly, I was surprised recently when every one of my Democratic opponents said they opposed such a common sense safety measure. Asked at a debate sponsored by the Associated General Contractors of Maine if they support a mandatory criminal background check for the purchase of firearms, Libby Mitchell, Steve Rowe, John Richardson and Pat McGowan all said "NO." Are they thinking about what's best for Maine or what they think is best for their political campaigns?
It is common sense that we do not want criminals, terrorists and mentally unstable people buying guns. Responsible, law-abiding Mainers should always be able to purchase guns, and I believe most of them will accept background checks if they know it means our communities will be safer. But we don't want spousal abusers to be able to walk into a gun show and immediately walk out fully armed. As a wife and mother of three children, I want the state doing everything it can to stop domestic abuse before it happens.
Would a mandatory background check have saved the lives of all the men and women who were killed last year in domestic violence incidents? Probably not. But do we really want to wait for a convicted abuser to acquire a weapon and harm someone before we pass this common sense, non-invasive law?
I am proud to stand up to prevent domestic violence with common sense restrictions like this one. I only wish my Democratic opponents would join me in doing the right thing for the hundreds of potential victims of domestic violence in Maine.
DIRIGO BLUE is available as an