PORTLAND, Me. – Consumer activist Chellie Pingree bested Iraqi War hero Adam Cote in yesterday’s Democratic Primary for the state’s 1st House District, despite controversial support from CUNA.
Pingree, the former president of Maine Common Cause, won the six-person primary, which was marked by controversy over out-of-state campaign contributions, particularly $135,000 worth of mailings by CUNA in the final days on behalf of Cote.
Pingree won 44% of the vote, with Cote coming in second with 26%.
The CUNA mailings, independent expenditures that even Cote was not aware of, created controversy among the Democratic challengers and the state’s bankers after they were disclosed last week by The Credit Union Journal Daily.
Cote, who received two medals for a children’s reading program he created while serving in Iraq for the National Guard, was endorsed by the Maine CU League because of his life-long membership in York County FCU, his support of the tax exemption, and his pro-business stance, according to John Murphy, president of the Maine CUNA League. "But those aren’t the only reasons for our support," Murphy told The Credit Union Journal. "He has a strong desire to find ways to improve the economy; he has a very strong appeal and good ideas."
But under federal election law, CUNA was not allowed to coordinate its independent expenditure with the candidate or its local affiliate, the Maine league. So the only way Murphy knew about the CUNA mailings was because he received them at his home.
The mailings were sent to thousands of Democratic voters in the district in the days just before yesterday’s primary. They focused on Cote’s strength’s; his strategy to end the war in Iraq, his proposals for renewable energy and economic initiatives, without mentioning his stance on credit unions. The postcard-sized mailings noted in small letters on the bottom that they were paid for by the Credit Union Legislative Action Council, CUNA’s political action committee.
CUNA has had some notable success before with independent campaign expenditures, like the 2006 effort on behalf of Democratic Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who became the first Senator in modern times to lose his party’s primary then win reelection as an independent. Lieberman has rewarded CUNA for its support recently by introducing the CU Regulatory Improvements Act, better known as CURIA, in the Senate.
Pingree now moves on to the general election and will face U.S. Small Business Administration regional director and ex-state Republican Sen. Charles Summers, in the race to succeed Democrat Tom Allen, who is running for the Senate against Republican Susan Collins.
