It’s official. Sen. Peter Mills of Somerset County will challenge Peter Cianchette of South Portland in a Republican primary fight the state party would have rather avoided but officially welcomes as part of its effort to unseat Democratic Gov. John Baldacci.
Mills made a low-key announcement on Tuesday, following up on a 12-step plan he handed out to Republican legislators and the press on Friday.
Cianchette, who announced last Thursday, is seen as the Republican State Party’s favorite, having run against Baldacci in 2002 and losing with 41 percent of the votes to Baldacci’s 47 percent.
Gov. Baldacci said Tuesday he’s worked with Peter Mills and “I respect him,” but had no other comment on the pending race.
“My work is the work of the people right now,” Baldacci said, with his energy going toward economic development in light of possible base closures in the state. If he does his job, the governor said, “the politics will take care of itself.”
Republican Party Chairman Randy Bumps said Monday, “We are, of course, excited and enthusiastic that Peter Cianchette has decided to get into the race,” but said the party would help Mills or any other Republican gubernatorial candidate identify supporters.
“They’re all thinking about running for one fundamental principle: Governor Baldacci needs to be replaced,” he said.
In making his announcement, Cianchette said the “state is on the wrong track,” pointing out the areas where Baldacci is perceived to be most vulnerable.
“Like most Mainers I had hoped that John Baldacci would succeed in reducing property taxes, tackling skyrocketing health care costs and lowering Maine’s highest-in-the-nation tax burden. Unfortunately this hasn’t happened. In fact, Maine continues to stumble along, enduring crushing job losses, higher taxes, increased costs for health care and a frightening exodus of our young people.”
Cianchette has yet to release a plan of action, with a spokesperson for his campaign saying he wanted to take the summer to travel the state and get feedback from the voters.
Mills, on the other hand, has released a detailed list of things he would change if elected – missives the Statehouse press corps is used to seeing from the outspoken senator, who earlier this year led a petition drive to overturn $450 million in borrowing in the state budget. The threat of that people’s veto campaign forced the Legislature to revote the budget in the final days of session.
He said he intentionally made his election plan contentious because he wants to get people involved in solving the problems in state government.
“I want to get out there and start telling people the truth and get their ideas,” said Mills, who has served 10 years in the Legislature. “I think I’ve been at ringside long enough to know what’s wrong, and I don’t want to go to my grave without trying to get it fixed.”
In his plan he calls for running the Department of Health and Human Services more like a business and less like a social service agency, by putting people with business acumen in charge. He believes Medicaid recipients should pay higher premiums and co-pays, and rather than trying to insure everyone in the state, state money should be used for public health and preventive measures.
He also is calling for more standardized testing in the K-12 system and holding students accountable on a yearly basis as they move through the system. He also supports the preservation of small schools but wants fewer school districts, reducing the number from the current 286 to 31, or one for each labor market area.
He wants to put new state workers and teachers into the Social Security system, rather than relying on the state’s pension system. Maine is one of less than a dozen states that doesn’t contribute to Social Security for its workers – a system Mills said encourages people never to leave their state job, leaving no room for “fresh entrees from the private sector.”
Mills said he would not run as a clean election candidate, but rather give himself the flexibility to raise as much money as needed. Cianchette and Baldacci also ran as privately funded candidates the last time around.
Mills is a decorated Vietnam veteran and attorney who has served both as a senator and representative in the Legislature. Cianchette is a former state representative, who owns a consulting firm in Portland.
On the same day Cianchette announced, former Congressman David Emery said he was pulling out of the running.
“I am convinced that our best chance to make fundamental policy changes is to avoid a protracted and expensive primary election contest so that the Republican nominee will be able to focus his attention on defeating Governor Baldacci,” he said.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
