John Baldacci

A state representative running unopposed has brought an ethics complaint against a state Senate candidate Valerie Carr-Winocour (R-Old Town) for a flier she sent out attacking her, the candidate’s opponent and another state representative.

Winocour, a clean elections candidate, sent out a mailer to all of Senate District 30 with the banner “The Baldacci bunch”. It accuses the Democrats of siding with Gov. John Baldacci to increase state spending and taxes. Sen. Elizabeth Schneider (D-Orono), her opponent, is the main target, but Reps. Emily Cain (D-Orono), Michael Dunn (D-Bangor), Richard Blanchard (D-Old Town) and John Martin (D-Eagle Lake) are also mentioned.

“Since the fine people of Eagle Lake are unlikely to vote Mr. Martin out of office, we must fix things ourselves,” the mailer states.

The latest poll by Rasmussen Reports shows the gap between U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and challenger Tom Allen three points narrower than it was last month.

According to the report, released today, Collins is leading 53 to 43 percent. Earlier today, a poll commissioned by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee revealed an eight point gap.

Rasmussen also showed Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama leading Republican John McCain 51 to 46 percent.

The poll showed Gov. John Baldacci’s approval ratings worsening, with 41 percent rating his performance poor and 27 percent giving him a good or excellent mark.

After losing his legal counsel and deputy chief of staff, Gov. John Baldacci has made several staff changes.

Current Communications Director David Farmer will take over as deputy chief of staff, replacing Ryan Low. Low was appointed Commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services. Farmer will be responsible for moving the governor’s initiatives through the Legislature, and also be the liaison to the Finance Authority of Maine, MaineHousing and the Maine Municipal Bond Bank.

Gov. John Baldacci met today with Mainers who participated in the Olympics and their families. His office provided the following photos:

Gov. John Baldacci made $69,992 in 2007, and his benefit cost was $36,115.

There are 40 people in the state with a salary higher than $150,000.

The Secretary of State’s office spent $99,602 in advertising notices to Bangor Publishing Company (Bangor Daily News) last year.

The Maine Heritage Policy Center wants you to know this information.

The MHPC has launched www.maineopengov.org, a site dedicated to state spending disclosure.

The side includes the payroll for state, judicial, legislative, community college, university, and K-12 education employees, along with those receiving a pension from the state. It also lists more than $1 billion in vendor payments.

MHPC Executive Director Tarren Bragdon said in a release: "The MaineOpenGov.org site will expand in the near future to include more public payrolls, more government payments to companies and individuals, government contracts and other information. In addition, users of the Web site can export data, add comments on payroll and expenditure items and participate in forums to highlight items of interest culled from the data."

Gov. John Baldacci has just commuted his first prison sentence, reducing the sentence of Carol Graves by 18 months, his office announced today.

Graves was convicted of manslaughter in June 1997 for killing her father.

The commutation was recommended by the Governor’s Board on Executive Clemency.

In a release, Baldacci noted abuse growing up and also good behavior in prison. He said:

The latest from Rasmussen Reports has U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Bangor) leading challenger and U.S. Rep. Tom Allen (D-Portland) 55 to 42 percent, a gap of 13 points.

Collins’ lead is down from polls released last month, where she held a 15 point lead. The polling firm gives Collins an 80 percent chance of winning reelection.

According to Rasmussen, 89 percent of Republicans and 23 percent of Democrats in Maine support Collins. Allen is supported by 74 percent of Democrats and 10 percent of Republicans.

Bank of America announced plans to buy Merrill Lynch today, which caused a stir in the stock market.

Both companies have donated to Maine’s national candidates.

In addition, Lehman Brothers investment bank filed for bankruptcy today. While the company’s Political Action Committee gave $25,000 to federal candidates this year and $130,680 in 2006, none of that money went to Maine’s federal candidates.

The Wall Street Journal points out that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, recently tapped as Republican John McCain’s vice presidential nominee, is one of the most powerful governors in the country.

The Journal relies on a 2007 study by Professor Thad Beyle of the University of North Carolina, which creates an index of the executive power in each state.

Number-wise, Maine is in the middle, tying with eight other states at just 0.1 point above the 50-state average. Looking at the breakdown, however, the only area that Maine differs from Alaska is veto power. Maine Gov. John Baldacci (D-Bangor) does not have line-item veto power, Palin does.

The broken down rankings are as follows, all on a scale from 1 to 5. Five is the most amount of power, 1 is the least.

Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign has an answer to the Lieberman – McCain connection: "Maine Republicans for Obama."

They held an event in front of Portland City Hall to officially kick off the coalition with Robert Monks, the former chairman of the Maine Republican Party and Sherry Huber, who served in the Maine House of Representatives from 1976-1982.