It was an exercise in discipline, writing and concise thinking.

Fifteen legislative candidates came to the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce breakfast this morning at the Senator Inn in Augusta to talk about why they are running for office.

And they each had only one minute to do it.

Some chose to run through a list of credentials, such as where they went to school and their work background. Others listed accomplishments. And some tried to appeal to the business owners in the room.

In the race for House District 82, Winthrop and Readfield, Rep. Pat Flood, R-Winthrop, said during four years in office, nine of his bills have become law. He said he works well with others.

"I hope to have a major role in addressing our state's most important issues," he said.

His opponent, Winthrop Town Councilwoman Priscilla Jenkins, a Democrat, said she's focused on economic development.

"I believe economic development, affordable health care, and jobs for all is a critical issue for us," she said.

To see what others had to say, check out Thursday's Kennebec Journal or Morning Sentinel.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, launched a bus tour in Bangor today, shifting her campaign "into high gear," according to her spokesman.

Collins, who is running against U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat, will make several stops in northern Maine throughout the day. This is the first leg of her tour, which will continue through the coming weeks.

Campaign staffers are live-blogging the trip and posting video updates on the campaign Web site at www.SusanCollins.com.

Dobson in court Tuesday

Laurie Dobson of Kennebunk, an independent who is trying to get her name on the U.S. Senate ballot with Collins and Allen, will be in Maine Superior Court in Augusta on Tuesday.

Dobson is contesting a decision by the Maine Secretary of State's Office that she did not have enough valid signatures to make it on the ballot. The hearing starts at 10:30 a.m., according to Dobson, who is urging supporters to call people who had their signatures thrown out.

Saviello stumps for McCain

This afternoon, state Rep. Tom Saviello of Wilton, an independent, will stand on the Statehouse steps to announce that he is leading a group called Citizens for McCain.

The group is part of a national grassroots effort to get support for Sen. John McCain from Democrats and independents.

Saviello is a former Democrat who quit the party in 2005 to become an independent. He will speak at 2 p.m.

The campaign of U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, just announced that he is postponing his Thursday trip to Waterville to talk about economic issues. No word yet on a new date.

In other news, the Maine delegation to the Democratic National Convention that begins in Denver next week is getting ready to head out. Delegate Rita Moran of Winthrop said they are working out the details of what meetings, events, and speeches to attend, along with packing sunscreen and water.

Maine is sending 24 delegates, 15 for Sen. Barack Obama and nine for Sen. Hillary Clinton. (That doesn't include superdelegates, add-ons, alternates or pages).

"I feel as though if I only get to to go one convention in my lifetime, this is the one to go to," said Moran, an Obama delegate.

Out in Jefferson on Saturday, several local legislative candidates tossed candy, shook hands, and waived from antique cars as they participated in the annual parade.

With fair season in full swing, and other community events planned before school starts, you can bet you'll see legislators and their opponents out and about.

With all 186 legislative seats up for grabs in November (a few are uncontested) it's an exciting year. Here's a short list of what are expected to be competitive races in central Maine:

Secretary of State Matt Dunlap recently announced that his office has created a new Web page that makes it easier to vote absentee.

"In Maine, a person doesn't need a specific reason or be unable to vote at the polls on Election Day to receive an absentee ballot," Dunlap said. "As long as you are registered to vote, you can vote absentee."

The absentee ballot request form is online here.

Additionally, a complete Absentee Voter Guide is also available online.

Also, there are more than 50 municipalities that can accept electronically submitted absentee ballot requests. Municipalities will begin to distribute absentee ballots in late September.

A national group called Women's Voices Women Vote is targeting 9,324 unmarried women in Maine as part of a nationwide voter registration drive.

The group says it has contacted Maine election officials to prepare them that they will be receiving more voter registrations as a result of the drive.

According to stats from the group, 67,994 unmarried women in Maine were eligible to vote in 2006, but failed to do so.

New Obama office in Portland

House Speaker Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, Gov. John Baldacci and State Auditor Neria Douglass will open a new campaign office for presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama on Saturday.

The "Campaign for Change" office will open at 11 a.m. Saturday at 1037 Forest Ave. in Portland.

Democratic strategist to address Lobsterbake

Tad Devine, a political strategist who heads the Washington D.C. based consulting firm Devine Mulvey LLC, will address the Maine Democratic Party's 2008 Muskie Lobsterbake on Saturday in Scarborough.

Democrats are charging $100 a head for the lobsterbake, an annual affair honoring former U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie.

Democrats who live in House District 78, all of Sidney and part of Oakland, are invited to attend a meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 16 to choose their candidate for the House seat.

The nominating caucus will be held at Williams School, 55 Pleasant St., in Oakland.

The seat is open because Rep. Jill Conover, D-Oakland, decided not to seek reelection and the Democrat who filed to run, Jeremy Caron of Sidney, moved out of state.

Former Rep. Robert Nutting, R-Oakland, is running as the Republican candidate.

Three of the four people who filed to run for Augusta’s two House seats have dropped out, leaving both parties to choose new candidates.

And there’s a vacancy in a Sidney/Oakland district as well.

At the March filing deadline, it appeared the match-ups would be:

• House 56: incumbent Rep. Kim Silsby, a Democrat, against Aubrey Knorr, a Republican. Both have since dropped out.

Anna D. Blodgett of Augusta is hoping fellow Democrats will choose her to run for the seat being vacated by Rep. Kim Silsby, D-Augusta.

Silsby said last week she’s not running again because she needs to spend more time with her family. Blodgett, who worked for 15 years as the city’s director of Parks, Cemeteries and Trees, is ready to fill the void.

“I always look at ways to improve things and hope to continue my public service at the state level as a problem solver and a good listener,” she said in a statement.

There’s still time for other Augusta Democrats to consider a run.

The Augusta City Democrats will meet at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at city hall to pick a new House candidate for the November election.

The Secretary of State’s Office will hold a hearing Monday to discuss a challenge to the signatures turned in by Herbert Hoffman, of Ogunquit, who wants his name on the ballot as a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

The state has ruled that Hoffman, an unenrolled candidate, turned in more than enough signatures to get his name on the ballot. But John Knutson, chairman of the Maine Democratic Party, is challenging the state’s decision.

Knutson contends that several defects should void some of the forms, according to paperwork filed with the state. Hoffman is confident he’ll prevail.

At stake is a spot on the November ballot alongside incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, and U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat.

The hearing is set for 10 — I triple checked with the Secretary of State's Office — in room 206 of the Cross State Office Building.

Recount set for Thursday

In other Secretary of State news, there will be a recount at 9 a.m. Thursday in the House District 107 Democratic primary.

Election night results show a tie between Melissa Innes of Yarmouth and Kimberly McLaughlin, also of Yarmouth.

The recount will be held at the Department of Public Safety headquarters north of the Augusta Civic Center.

Rep. Kim Silsby, D-Augusta, said she will not seek reelection to her Maine House of Representatives seat because she needs to spend more time with her family.

Really.

Silsby, 41, has three children, ages 8, 10, and 12, and the unpredictable legislative schedule caused her to miss some important events.

“The Legislature will always be there,” she said. “My kids being this young now are not going to be.”

Silsby’s term on the Augusta school board ends in December, and she’s sticking to her previous decision not to run for another term.

The Augusta City Democrats will meet at 6:30 p.m. June 22 at city hall to pick a new House candidate for the November election.

Check out McCain

Want to get an early look at Sen. John McCain?

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee will be in Nashua Thursday for a town hall meeting.

Doors for the general public open at 12:30 p.m. The event, which is scheduled to start an hour later, is being held at the Daniel Webster College Gymnasium, 20 University Drive, in Nashua.

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

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 head of the Maine Democratic Party said this week that they are
launching an “historic” effort to elect Democrats in Maine.

Why historic?

They are starting much earlier — now rather than June or July — and they
will have more people in virtually every county in Maine, said Arden
Manning, executive director of the party.

John Frary filed his paperwork Monday to earn a spot on the November ballot challenging U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud in the 2nd Congressional District.

Frary, a Farmington Republican, announced in November that he would run against the three term Democrat in the massive 2nd CD. Frary has a very unusual campaign web site.

check it out here

And, in the interest of equal time:

Michaud's web site can be found here

Augusta GOP reschedules meeting

The Augusta City GOP Committee has rescheduled this week’s meeting in observance of Holy Week.

First Congressional District Democratic candidate Chellie Pingree filed her papers to officially get into the race this week, bring the list of Democrats who have completed their petitions to five.

All will be fighting for their party’s nomination at the June 10 primary. Other Dems who have filed: Mark Lawrence of South Berwick; Michael Brennan of Portland; Ethan Strimling of Portland; and Steve Meister of Winthrop.

On the Republican side, Dean Scontras of Eliot and Charlie Summers of Scarborough have both filed.

One notable who hasn’t filed, at least not yet, is John Frary, a Republican who has announced he will challenge Democratic Rep. Michael Michaud in the 2nd Congressional District.

The deadline for filing is 5 p.m. Monday.

Democrat Mark Lawrence and Republican Dean Scontras on Wednesday officially turned in the signatures they need to get on the June ballot.

Both are running for the 1st Congressional District seat. The primary is June 10.

That brings the list of Democrats who have completed their petitions to four: Lawrence of South Berwick; Michael Brennan of Portland; Ethan Strimling of Portland; and Steve Meister of Winthrop.

On the Republican side, Scontras of Eliot and Charlie Summers of Scarborough have both filed.

Les Fossel of Alna, who came within seven votes of winning a Senate seat in 2002, is running for a House seat this time around.

Political insiders will remember Fossel as the Republican who almost beat Democratic Sen. Chris Hall in what was then Senate District 16. The race was made all the more important by the split in the Senate at the time, because if Fossel had won, the Republicans would have been in control.

The whole messy affair, which was finally decided by a Senate vote in January of the following year, set the tone for a divisive two years.

This time around, Fossel said he’s looking forward to a low key race.

“What I hope is I don’t get into one of these crazy things again,” he said.

Legislators, former legislators and those who want to be legislators are busy gathering signatures to run for legislative seats, all 186 of which will be up for grabs in November.

This week, attorney Seth Goodall of Richmond announced he will run as a Democrat in Senate District 19. That seat is now occupied by Republican Sen. Paula Benoit of Phippsburg, who is running again.

Goodall, vice-chairman of the Richmond Selectboard, recently stepped down from his position as legal counsel to the Senate President so he could run for office.

In other election news:

Rep. Stan Gerzofsky, D-Brunswick, said he’s going to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, who is termed out.

Sen. Dana Dow, R-Waldoboro, said he will not seek reelection to his seat because he needs more time to focus on his furniture store business. While waiting in line for a roast beef sandwich in the cafeteria, Dow said he may consider a run for governor in 2010, but he said that the word “may” should be underlined and in italics.

With Dow out, it opens the door for the return of former Rep. David Trahan, R-Waldoboro, who has filed to run for the District 20 seat. So has Rep. Peter Rines, D-Wiscasset.

A quick scan of the list on the Ethics Commission Web site shows former Rep. Bob Nutting of Oakland, a Republican, is once again running for that seat. It’s currently held by Rep. Jill Conover, D-Oakland, who has filed to run again.

Visit this site to find the ethics commission list.

Before the Maine GOP presidential straw poll is a distant memory, I took a look at the current statewide totals and compared them to 12 Kennebec County towns.

With 75 percent of towns reporting, the statewide results show Mitt Romney with 52 percent, John McCain with 21 percent, Ron Paul with 18 percent and Mike Huckabee with 6 percent.

But locally, the results tell a slightly different story.

Romney still won, with 45 percent, but Paul came in second with 32 percent, McCain followed with 17 percent and Huckabee still drew 6 percent.

For more results, go to mainegop.com.

Augusta Republicans elect new leadership

In addition to expressing their presidential preference, Republicans elected new leaders on Saturday.

Chuck Mahaleris was chosen to serve as city GOP chairman, David Madore is vice-chairman and Linda Hadley Rood is secretary.

Sharon Benoit to run for District 21 seat

Monmouth resident Sharon Benoit, a former state legislator, has announced she will seek the Democratic nomination for the state Senate District 21 seat.

That sets up a primary in that district, where former Gardiner Mayor Brian Rines has already said he plans to run again.

Benoit, who previously served eight years in the House, is now retired and said this is a good time for her to get involved again.

The district is currently represented by Sen. Earle McCormick, R-West Gardiner, who beat Rines in a squeaker in 2006.

Strimling heads to Red Barn

State Sen. Ethan Strimling, a Democrat who’s running for the 1st Congressional District seat, will make the rounds in Kennebec County on Saturday.

Strimling will start the day with breakfast at A1 Diner in Gardiner at 7:45 a.m., move on to the West Gardiner Transfer Station at 9:45 a.m. and then head to the Red Barn Restaurant on Riverside Drive by lunchtime, according to his campaign.

While at the Red Barn, he’s supposed to take orders from customers before “joining them in the dining room.”

They aren’t old enough to vote, but state law now allows 17-year-olds to participate in political caucuses if they will turn 18 by the November election.

A few years ago, House Speaker Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, tried to get the two-thirds support necessary to give 17-year-olds the right to vote. That effort failed, but his fallback position was to allow them to caucus — and vote in the June primary — as long as they have a birthday before the general election.

Former Gov. Angus King and other board members of Unity08 said in a letter on their Web site that their effort to find a new way to choose a president has stalled, if not failed.

King is a founder of the group that hoped to put a serious third party candidate on the November ballot. An independent who served as governor from 1994-2002, King talked about Unity08 on several YouTube videos.

“This in an old fashioned, sort of patriotic, idealistic, movement to take the country back,” he said.

But a lengthy letter that pops up when you go to Unity08.com says the effort has “fallen short” because they don’t have enough money or members to get a candidate on the ballot in all 50 states.

They had also planned to host an online political convention during which the Unity Party ticket would be named.

“This past year has taught us that it’s tough to rally millions to a process as opposed to a candidate or an issue,” the letter states. “Stirring people and moving them to action about a process change — replacing the quirky primary system that tends to drive candidates to the extremes with something more inclusive and sensible — has proven to be a lot harder than we expected.”

Back in 1997, House Speaker Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro, would sometimes take her time recognizing Rep. Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Portland.

When you’re a mom with a microphone, you can get away with these kinds of things.

Now the mother-daughter duo is hoping to repeat their joint service in the Senate.

When former Senate Minority Leader Paul Davis, R-Sangerville, left office in 2006 due to term limits, it didn’t seem likely he’d return to the Statehouse.

He said he looked forward to fishing and hunting. He’s retired, and seemed tired of the grind of politics. While serving as Senate Minority Leader, Democrats tried to lampoon Davis for constantly saying “no” by depicting him as a flannel shirt wearing country bumpkin in an Internet ad.

Yet it seems Davis is hoping to make a comeback, this time in the House of Representatives.

Last year’s fight over taxes in Maine, which culminated in the defeat of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, drew lots of big money from national groups, many of whom opposed the measure, according to a report from the National Institute on Money in State Politics.

The institute examined spending on all ballot measures across the country in 2006 and found only 23 percent of the $648 million raised on either side of any of the issues came from individuals.

What did that mean in Maine?

Former Gardiner Mayor Brian Rines is planning to take another run at the Senate seat now occupied by Sen. Earle McCormick, R-West Gardiner.

Rines lost to McCormick by 700 or so votes in 2006, in one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the state. McCormick moved over from the House to claim the seat left open when Sen. Scott Cowger, D-Hallowell, decided not to run again.

Looking ahead to next year, it’s likely to be a race to watch as Republicans try to turn the tide on the Democrats’ one-seat majority.

Maine Republican Party Executive Director Julie O’Brien said it won’t be long before the Senate race in Maine starts heating up.

Early in 2008, Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins will open her campaign headquarters in Portland, and O’Brien expects national attention to follow soon thereafter.

“I do know people on the national level will be playing in Maine with resources,” she said.

Looking to fill up your holiday party calendar?

Maine Senate Republicans — and their family, friends and guests — will gather at the Augusta Country Club in Manchester Dec. 6 for a $100 per person fundraiser.

Peter Chandler, U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud’s chief of staff, will oversee campaign activities for all Maine Democrats starting in January.

Chandler, who splits his time between Portland and Washington, will become the Maine Democratic Coordinated Campaign chairman.

Democrats picked up one seat previously held by Republicans Tuesday night on their way to increasing their House majority to 90 seats.

That leaves Republicans with 59 seats and two in the hands of independents.

Overall, of the five House races, Democrats won three and Republicans took two.

Neither major party will be running vans on Tuesday to get people to the polls, but both say if your car conks out and you need a ride, give them a call.

In their own ways, and in an off year, the parties are conducting their own get-out-the-vote efforts, known in political jargon as GOTV.

A poll released Thursday by the Portland firm Critical Insights shows the Washington County racino getting approval from 56 percent of Mainers, with 36 percent opposed and 8 percent undecided.

The racino will be Question 1 on Tuesday’s ballot.

The poll also showed:

Some are predicting a close race is House District 99.

Rep. Richard Cebra, R-Naples, isn’t one of them.

Cebra has been hitting the campaign trail with fellow Republican Ralph Sarty Jr. of Denmark, and thinks the hard work will pay off on Tuesday.

Sarty faces Democrat Kate Smith of Sebago in the district that includes Baldwin, Sebago, Limington, Cornish and Denmark.

Steve Meister of Winthrop shocked more than a few people Friday night by announcing he’s the sixth person hoping to win the Democratic nomination for the 1st Congressional District seat.

Meister, a pediatrician and veteran of the first Gulf War, said his patients often talk to him about problems with health care and the military. He said he feels uniquely qualified to talk about both those subjects.

Ruth Summers, wife of Republican 1st Congressional District candidate Charlie Summers, is doing a lot of heavy lifting this fall to try to help her husband win the June primary and face a Democrat in the November 2008 election.

Her husband is on active duty in Iraq, and will most likely be there until July or August. Summers, of Scarborough, is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve communications division.

So far, only one other Republican has stepped up to challenge him for the nomination — Dean Scontras of Eliot.