Ruth Summers

SOUTH PORTLAND - For the second time in a row, Charlie Summers will by the Republican Party's nominee in the 1st Congressional District.

A former state senator and one time staffer to U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, Summers defeated Dean Scontras by nearly 18 points by the time he claimed victory. He will now face Democrat Chellie Pingree in November.

The road to the nomination was far from easy. A Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Reserves, he was deployed to Iraq shortly after announcing his bid in July. As a result, he depended heavily on his wife Ruth to campaign on his behalf.

PolitickerME.com will post audio from the debate in a bit

It was a small event, but nonetheless a fitting venue for Charlie Summers’ first event on the campaign trail.

Summers, a Republican First Congressional District candidate, participated in a candidates forum Monday night at a veterans’ home in his home town, Scarborough.

Summers returned home from Iraq Saturday evening, and spent most of Monday filing the necessary paperwork to get off active duty. For the past nine months his wife, Ruth Summers, has stood in for him on the campaign trail.

Charlie Summers, a Republican candidate in the First Congressional District, arrived home Saturday after spending nine months in Iraq.

While his wife, Ruth Summers, was campaigning in his place, Summers was a public information officer with a provincial reconstruction team in Baghdad, working with multi-national forces in both Arabic and United States’ media, and helping the build schools and businesses.

Summers has agreed to sit down with PolitickerME in the next few weeks to talk more about his time overseas. At a forum Monday evening he did touch on his experience when asked a question about war funding. See below for video.

Summers will face Republican opponent Dean Scontras in the primary June 10.

GOP convention officials were facing tight time constraints after elections for national committeeman and committeewoman took far longer than expected on Friday. They decided to cut speeches by congressional candidates back by a couple of minutes.

This did not sit well with a lot of people. The candidates were then allowed to speak again at the district caucuses the following day.

Ruth Summers came to Maine’s GOP convention with good news. Her husband, Charlie Summers, left Baghdad Thursday and is starting his journey home.

Summers, a candidate in the First Congressional District, is serving overseas. He is expected home mid-May. In the meantime, his wife is campaigning for him.