Adam Cote

Throughout the legislative session, Karl Turner sat on the powerful Appropriations Committee as the only Republican Senator.  On Wednesday, however, he was there as a third Senate Democrat.

Former Congressional candidate Adam Cote will chair a committee of Maine veterans who support Barack Obama for President.

Staffers for Obama’s campaign in Maine made the announcement in Bangor Wednesday with Steve Robinson, former Airborne Ranger and Gulf War veteran. Robinson is the Executive Director of the National Gulf War Resource.

Cote came in second in the primary for the First Congressional District Democratic Party nomination. He served both in Bosnia and Iraq.

Adam Cote used to be a Republican. He served in Iraq, and is an attorney specializing in energy and real estate development issues. He inspired Republican State Senator Karl Turner and Former GOP leader, Tony Payne to temporarily switch parties. He even made a glowing impression on the conservative talk show host Ray Richardson. The topic of Adam's Republican fan club came up during Cote's campaign for the Democratic nomination for Maine's 1st Congressional District. Although he lost the nomination to Chellie Pingree, Cote, with no political experience under his belt, toppled liberal darlings Ethan Strimling, Mark Lawrence and Mike Brennan, with second place finish.

Gov. John Baldacci has nominated former Congressional candidate Adam Cote to the Midcoast Regional Development Authority.

The authority was established by the Legislature to implement the Brunswick Naval Air Stations reuse master plans for the locations in Brunswick and Topsham.

Cote had sought the Democratic nomination in the First Congressional District in a six-way primary. He came in second to Chellie Pingree.

The State Senate leadership gets a nod this week for filing candidates in every district, while former Independent candidate Herb Hoffman's electoral woes gets him a spot on the loser list. Check out all of this week's Winners & Losers. | CLICK HERE

Congressional candidate Chellie PingreePORTLAND -- In spite of a late charge from Adam Cote, front runner Chellie Pingree captured a convincing win tonight in the Democratic primary for Maine's 1st Congressional District.

With 73 percent of precincts reporting, Pingree leads Cote 44 percent to 26 percent.

After waiting until after 11 p.m. for the local networks to call the race, Pingree addressed a boisterous crowd of a couple hundred supporters jammed into the Porthole Restaurant, an old bar and grill on the waterfront in downtown Portland. "We can actually say it now," she finally said, "I think that we won."

Despite being down in the numbers at 10:45 p.m., Adam Cote, a Democrat running in the 1st Congressional District primary, is still optimistic.

He said there are a lot of towns he is strong in that haven't reported yet, such as his hometown, Sanford.

Video of the speech will be posted soon.

James E.N. Bachelder, commander of the Maine Veterans of Foreign Wars, speaks about the campaign prospects of Democrat Adam Cote, who is running to fill the seat of Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, who is running for U.S. Senate.

SANFORD -- In Sanford's first two wards, turnout was light in the after-work hours.

Voters who came through, however, eagerly offered up reasons for picking their candidate of choice. They went to high school with him or knew his family.

Seven of the eight Democrats interviewed by PolitickerME.com said Adam Cote was an easy choice for them. The eighth said she voted for Mark Lawrence, also from York County, because he was a friend of the family.

Cote and Lawrence face four other Democrats in the 1st Congressional District primary.

Talk about horrible timing … PolitickerME has been out with a nasty flu for the past few days.

Here’s a quick rundown on what’s been going on in the days leading up the primary.

Monday, June 2: