Herbert J. Hoffman, an unenrolled candidate for the U.S. Senate, filed 4,094 signatures with the state Thursday to get his name on the November ballot.

Hoffman, a retired psychologist, exceeded the requirement by 94 signatures. Hoffman’s past political experience includes work on the Kucinich for President campaign and a run for the Ogunquit Board of Selectman.

No word yet on whether Laurie Dobson of Kennebunk, who has also said she intends to run as an unenrolled candidate for the Senate, will meet Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline to turn in her 4,000 signatures.

So here’s where the race stands today:

• Republican candidate: incumbent Sen. Susan Collins

• Democrats: U.S. Rep. Tom Allen and Tom Ledue of Sanford will face each other in the June 10 primary

• Unenrolled: Herbert Hoffman of Ogunquit

• Possible: Laurie Dobson of Kennebunk

Democrats are expecting 288 delegates under the age of 21 to attend this weekend’s convention in Augusta.

Caroline Slymon, 17, of Pittsfield, is one of them.

Slymon is a Sen. Hillary Clinton delegate and has been a fan of the New York Senator since first grade. However, most of her friends favor Sen. Barack Obama.

“I try not to let myself get in fights or anything,” she said, noting that she has debated her friends on the subject.

Slymon will turn 18 in September, so she’ll be old enough to vote in the general election.

A junior at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield, Slymon wants to be a prosecuting attorney when she gets older. She believes Clinton can still win the nomination.

“It really depends on what happens with Michigan and Florida, at the convention and with the superdelegates,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a lot harder than we thought it was going to be.”

The Augusta City Republican Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. June 5 at party headquarters on Higgins Street.

All Republicans living in Augusta are invited to attend.

The agenda includes discussion of summer events, including the 4th of July parade and the Windsor Fair booth, speeches by candidates, and information about the U.S. Senate race.

Also, the group will review existing bylaws.

As the race for the 1st Congressional District heats up, Democrat Michael Brennan is trying to get as many people to vote in the June 10 primary as possible.

And that includes members of the Maine Green Independent Party.

Party Chairwoman Lynne Williams wrote an “open letter” to Brennan asking him to apologize for his attempts at “subversion of the electoral system.”

Here’s part of what she wrote:

“As a party, we work very hard on voter registration and on maintaining our party status and our ballot status. By attempting to persuade members of the Green party to re-register as Democrats, you have undermined our work towards increasing our party membership.

“And by doing that you have undermined a party that presents a true progressive alternative to the Democrats.”

Brennan, a former state senator from Portland, is facing a six-way primary that includes Adam Cote, Mark Lawrence, Steve Meister, Chellie Pingree and Ethan Strimling.

The Maine Green Independent Party, fresh off its convention in Yarmouth last weekend, said it will play an active role in collecting signatures for two petition drives.

One is a people’s veto effort to repeal the law that brings Maine into compliance with the Real ID federal regulations, and the other is the ongoing effort to repeal the school district consolidation law.

These petitions and others will be at the polls June 10.

In other Green Party news, the party handed out lifetime achievement awards to three people:

John Rensenbrink, founder of the Maine Green Party; Freddy Dolgan, longtime party activist from Old Orchard Beach; and Herschel Sternlieb, author of “The Adventures of King Bushy Tushy”.

Lynne Williams, of Bar Harbor, was named Green of the Year for her legal work on behalf of the party.

The NAACP and party officials for the Democrats, Republicans and Green Independents are scheduled to head to the state prison Wednesday for a voter registration drive.

Maine and Vermont are the only two states to allow prisoners to vote. The NAACP, working with the Maine Civil Liberties Union and the parties, want to make sure prisoners exercise that right, according to the MCLU.

“This has been an effective collaboration with the prison officials and with the party leaders, who are only working to register voters, not to promote a political agenda,” Rachel Talbot Ross, president of the Portland Chapter of the NAACP, said in a statement.

One of the NAACP’s three Maine branches is based at the prison in Warren.

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat, said today he will denounce TV or radio ads paid for by third parties that negatively portray Sen. Susan Collins, his Republican opponent in the Senate race.

Allen’s campaign says that because he can’t coordinate with these third party groups, he wanted to publicly ask them not to put out nasty ads.

“If you plan to attack Sen. Collins — don’t,” he said in a statement. “That won’t help your cause and it has no place in the conversation I intend to have with the voters of Maine.”

Allen said he’d like third parties to spend their money on “positive messages about their favorite candidate.”

The Collins camp responded by saying this is a new position for Allen.

“This would be a welcome departure from Congressman Allen’s position last summer when his 3rd party allies ran nearly a million dollars worth of negative ads against Senator Collins,” said Felicia Knight, deputy campaign manager for Collins.

The Republicans also say they will ask the national party not to attack Allen and challenged him to do the same.

“An arrangement such as that would be a huge step toward ensuring that the campaigns control the tone and the content of the television ads in this campaign,” Knight said.

The June 10 primary gives the parties a chance to choose among their candidates to decide who goes on to the November general election.

But those who aren’t enrolled in any party can show up on election day, pick a party, and vote.

The question is, should they?

The Kennebec County Democratic Committee will hold a “Meet the Candidates Night” at 7 p.m. Thursday at Augusta city hall.

Candidates running for the state Legislature and county commissioner will be present, and all registered Democrats are invited to attend.

“This campaign season has no shortage of coverage or debates at the presidential level,” said Rita Moran, county chairwoman. “But there has been little attention paid to the state races and this will be a forum where voters can get to know who is working to represent them in Augusta.”

Locally, on June 10, six legislative seats will be contested.

They are:

Senate 21: Brian Rines and Sharon Benoit, Democrats, Gardiner district

Senate 23: Diane Messer and Joseph Greenier, Democrats, Unity, Palermo, coastal district

House 76: Henry Beck and Antone Tavares, Democrats, Waterville

House 78: Robert Nutting and Erick Bennett, Republicans, Oakland

House 84: Ed Finch and Paul Tessier, Democrats, Fairfield

House 85: Jeffrey McCabe and Mitchell Snowman, Democrats, Skowhegan

Here’s the full statement put out by U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, who announced today he is using his status as a superdelegate to support Sen. Barack Obama in the race for president.

"I have been friends for a very long time with former President Clinton and Senator Clinton. I respect their service to our nation. Hillary Clinton has run a vigorous campaign and has attracted a passionate following in Maine and around the country. She loves this country and is a true leader. For her service, I am grateful," he said.

"Most of the primary voters across the nation have now spoken. It is time to bring a graceful end to the primary campaign. We now need to unify the Democratic Party and focus on electing Senator Obama and a working majority in the United States Senate. That is how we can change the direction of the country.

"I am running for the U.S. Senate because I believe Maine should lead the change this country needs. I share important priorities with Barack Obama: universal health care, reining in gas and food prices, greater independence from foreign oil, bringing our troops safely home from Iraq, creating jobs and strengthening the middle class."

Allen said Obama is the embodiment of change for Maine and America.

"In February I watched a new generation of Mainers become involved in our nominating process because they were energized and hopeful about the future. I watched Independents and Democrats - and even a lot of Republicans -- in Maine enthusiastically support Barack Obama because they believe he can and will put America back on track," he said.

Obama won Maine's Democratic caucuses in February. His candidacy helped drive record turnout of some 45,000 participants.

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen will announce his choice for president at 10:30 a.m. today in Portland.

As of last week, Allen was one of four Maine superdelegates who had not yet committed to a candidate. He’s scheduled to make the announcement at his campaign headquarters on Forest Avenue.

Check back later for the details on his endorsement.

Charlie Summers, one of two Republicans running for the 1st Congressional District, is expected to be back in Maine soon to participate in a host of campaign debates, according to his campaign.

First Congressional District candidate Michael Brennan, a Portland Democrat, wants Congress to stop funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is urging Congress to vote down a request for $178 billion in supplemental war funding.

The bill may be taken up in the House as soon as today, according to Brennan’s campaign. Brennan calls for an immediate withdrawal of troops, and discontinuation of funding.

Brennan is one of six Democrats competing on June 10 for the right to represent the party in the November election. The others are Adam Cote of Portland, Mark Lawrence of South Berwick, Chellie Pingree of North Haven, Ethan Strimling of Portland and Steve Meister of Winthrop.

Here’s the full text of Brennan’s letter:

Dear Senators Snowe and Collins and Representative Allen,

I am writing you as a constituent to request that you oppose the supplemental funding request of $178 billion for the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that will soon be before you in Congress. I also would encourage you to speak out against such funding immediately. I oppose said funding even if the final request turns out to be less than the $178 billion that is now being reported, and I urge you to oppose any funding request that is not directly tied to the safe removal of all of our combat troops.

At this time, I believe that as members of Congress representing Maine people, you must do everything that you possibly can to bring an end to the war now, including using the power of the purse to stop it. One reason that I am especially concerned is that the most recent supplemental proposal will provide funding for the war six months into 2009. Maine and America need to move in a new direction, and that begins with new leadership and an immediate end to the war, not a continuation of the current administration's disastrous policies.

As you know, we have spent more than $500 billion on the War in Iraq, and more than $1.4 billion of Maine taxpayer dollars – and with little to show for it except for continuing violence, much of it resistance to the American military presence. There are different ideas on how that money could be better spent – supporting education, health care, mass transit and renewable energy development, to name a few— but there is no question that it should not have been spent in the way that it was.

Similarly, there is no question that we should not be spending an additional $178 billion. The best way you can stop this from occurring voting against any Iraq spending not allocated either to the removal of troops or to simultaneous rebuilding and diplomatic efforts.

Press reports suggest that a vote on this funding could come as soon as (today) in the House, and that the vote on funding will be taken separately than a vote on removal of troops by the end of 2009. The end of 2009 is not soon enough to remove our troops – and indeed, they need to begin coming home now.

Sincerely,
Michael Brennan

Candidate for United States Congress

With a split decision on Tuesday — a win in Indiana and a loss in North Carolina — Sen. Hillary Clinton didn't get the kind of race-changing momentum she needed.

Her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, said he's now within less than 200 delegates of getting the nomination. And political pundits on Web site such as politico.com say Clinton is supporting "new math" in her quest to get enough delegates.

I’ll be checking in with party officials and political scientists in Maine to see what they think. The Maine Democratic Party State Convention is at the end of the month, and whether there are one or two nominees left in the race could make a big difference.

So, is it time for Clinton to drop out?

With the June 10 primary just five weeks away, it’s time to turn our attention to the Democrats and Republicans who want to take U.S. Rep. Tom Allen’s seat in Congress.

Allen, who’s challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins for her seat, has left an opening for new blood to step in. And on Tuesday night, most if not all of them will be in Augusta for a forum sponsored by the Maine Council of Senior Citizens-Alliance for Retired Americans.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. at the John Marvin Tower/Chateau Cushnoc Elderly Housing complex on Townsend Street in Augusta. Each candidate will have 10 minutes to speak, followed by a question and answer period.

John Carr, president of the alliance, said the forum is mostly for the senior citizens who live in the complex, although the public is allowed to attend. He said all of the candidates have said they plan to be there.

For the record, here’s who’s running in the Democratic primary: Michael Brennan of Portland, Adam Cote of Portland, Mark Lawrence of South Berwick, Ethan Strimling of Portland, Steve Meister of Winthrop, and Chellie Pingree of North Haven.

And for the Republicans, Charlie Summers of Scarborough faces Dean Scontras of Eliot.

The first district includes southern and coastal Maine, and stretching up to Augusta, Belgrade, Sidney, Vassalboro, Albion, and Monmouth.

Coming into the Republican State Convention, party leaders and other longtime party activists expressed concern that Ron Paul supporters would somehow take over the convention.

And while they did make their presence known, the Ron Paul fans didn’t disrupt the party business or dominate the convention.

When all was said and done, they got one delegate to the national convention. Patrick Eisenhart of Augusta is one of 21 Republicans from Maine who will go to the convention in early September.

Toward the end of Sen. Olympia Snowe’s speech on Saturday, more than a dozen Ron Paul supporters quietly circulated in the back of the room holding signs. At the lunch break, they asked to have a video of Paul played over the large TV screens, and walked to the front of the room for a mini-rally.

While walking back down the center aisle to leave, a female McCain supporter and a male Paul supporter got into a brief shouting match. I was too far away to hear much, but the McCain woman seemed to be saying she wanted the party to unify behind the presumptive nominee.

When it came to the platform, there were 21 possible amendments, many put forward by Paul supporters. Most of them failed.

What could have been a long platform fight was tamped down when convention chairwoman Ann Robinson limited debate to one person on each side, and gave them only one minute to speak.

Later, when that still took too long, the majority voted to forgo any debate and just vote on the amendments.

Among them was a proposal to adopt gold and silver as legal tender, abolish the IRS, conduct an audit of the gold at Fort Knox and repeal all federal firearm laws.

That one was soundly defeated.

And while fears of a Ron Paul takeover proved unfounded, the party did see a spike in attendance this year from people like Joseph Tilly of Albion. A Republican for only four months, Tilly said this is his first convention.

He’s not sure he’ll come back. He said he felt the convention was biased toward McCain and that it was disrespectful when organizers turned off the microphone while 1st Congressional District candidate Dean Scontras was speaking on Friday.

When asked if he will be active in the party in the future, he replied: “It depends on who the next candidate is.”

House Minority Leader Josh Tardy, R-Newport, told those gathered at the Republican State Convention this morning that although his party lost seats in the Maine House two years ago, they could win control this time around.

How?

Because control of the House was “determined by 1,358 votes” in 2006. That’s just nine per district, he said.

Democrats currently hold 90 seats in the House, with Republicans at 59.

If Republicans pull it off, it would be the first time in 36 years Republicans controlled the Maine House of Representatives.

House candidates each took a moment at the podium at the convention to introduce themselves, including former Senate Minority Leader Paul Davis, R-Sangerville. He’s running for the House this time around.

“When I served in the state Senate, the Democrats called me “Sen. No,” he said. “They haven’t seen anything yet.”

Coming up this afternoon, Congressional candidates John Frary and Dean Scontras will speak, along with Ruth Summers, who will give a speech on behalf of her husband Charlie Summers. Charlie Summers, who’s been serving in Iraq, is expected to be on the campaign trail later this month.

After that, the convention-goers will consider the platform, meet for county caucuses and gather this evening to hear a speech by former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Hundreds of people are filing into the Augusta Civic Center this morning for the Republican State Convention.

Political signs - complete with SUSAN (as in Collins) spelled out in the grass - greet the delegates, alternates and guests who traveled to Augusta for the two-day event.

There are women wearing matching American flag shirts, men in suits, and plenty of people handing out literature for their favorite candidate.

The official stuff begins at 9:30, with opening comments, a prayer, the national anthem and pledge of allegiance. Augusta Mayor Roger Katz is scheduled to speak, and at 10:30, there will be a presentation of the GOP legislative candidates.

More speeches this afternoon will be followed by the headliner tonight - former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.