John Frary

The Rothenberg Political Report left both of Maine’s House races off its September list of competitive House races this fall, meaning they see it as limited risk for the Democrats, who hold both seats.

In the 1st Congressional District, Chellie Pingree (D-North Haven) faces Charlie Summers (R-Scarborough). The seat is being vacated by Tom Allen (D-Portland) who is running for the Senate.

In the 2nd Congressional District, incumbent Rep. Mike Michaud (D-East Millinocket) faces Farmington professor John Frary (R-Farmington).

This is no change from previous reports. The only time either race made the list of competitive contests was in November 2007, far before the primary, when Rothenberg put the ME-1 race in the “Democrat favored” category.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has a background in hunting, fishing and snowmobiling, and some Republicans say this will make U.S. Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) ticket very attractive in the 2nd Congressional District.

"McCain can't win the second district," said Chris Potholm, a political science professor at Bowdoin College. "But she can win it for him."

Several Republican leaders in the state issued statements regarding John McCain’s pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as Vice President.

John Frary, a Farmington selectman running for the Second Congressional District, is calling for an oil refinery to be built at the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone.

Frary is challenging U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud.

He said such a project would bring economic development to the area, claiming support from Republican state Sens. Peter Mills, Doug Smith and Roger Sherman, however he sees hurdles afoot.

Click here for his full plan (PDF).

“What businessmen don’t want is for this to turn into a 5-year regulatory opera. That said, won’t the enviro-kooks gas up their SUVs and drive to Augusta to block the project with every shyster shenanigan they can dream up? Sure they will—and I relish the prospect of showing them the errors of their ways. If Canada can do it, why not us?” Frary said in a release.

The following are the basics from the most recent round of campaign finance reports for Congressional candidates. The basics for U.S. Senate candidates Susan Collins and Tom Allen can be found here.

Since the primary election fell in the middle of the second quarter, the first number listed reflects the first part of the quarter, April 1 to May 21. The second number is the second part of the quarter, May 22 to June 30. The third number is either the total between the two halves, or the cycle-to-date total.

John Frary, the Republican nominee for the Second Congressional District, attended a Glenn Beck event in Portland recently. There, he was interviewed by a blogger for the Glenn Beck Show, and a YouTube video of the interview is making the rounds on political blogs.

Beck is a talk show host on CNN.

Frary has something in common with Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama: They’re both smokers. And that’s the only similarity, Frary said in the video as he lit up.

“Now that’s unconventional campaigning,” the videographer commented.

The video had nearly 1,000 views Thursday night.

In fact, a Cote victory and wins for Collins and Michaud in November would put the entire Maine delegation in the political middle.

Zarvin’s Mike Tyson antics beg the question: Why are Maine Republican campaign staffers in New England so violent this cycle?

2008 is proving to be a whacky election year in Maine, and it doesn’t look like things are going to change. 

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.