The Maine Democratic Party’s Victory 2008 campaign will open its 15th office on Saturday in Skowhegan.

The public is invited to stop by the office at 165 Main St. between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Area Democrats, volunteers, staff, state legislators and candidates will all be there.

Victory 2008 Campaign Director Peter Chandler and Rep. John Piotti, D-Unity, are both expected to attend.

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.

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.

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

For $30, registered Republicans can enjoy dinner and a speech by former presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday night.

Romney is the major speaker at this weekend's state Republican Convention at the Augusta Civic Center. The Presidential Banquet will start at 7:30 p.m.

The convention — two days of speeches, delegate selection and platform debate — will draw about 2,400 people.

But for those who just want to hear Romney, tickets are available by calling party headquarters at 622-6247.

When Republicans meet in Augusta next weekend for their convention, they will consider their party platform.

Party veterans say there could be some pretty interesting conversations about the platform at the convention, which is set for May 2 and 3 at the Augusta Civic Center.

Party members have until May 2 to submit proposed amendments. For more on that, go to the party Web site.

Here’s the platform as it appears on the party Web site:

Republicans and Democrats will gather in Augusta next month for their conventions, and planning is well under way in both party offices.

Neither group will say who — or if — they’ve booked anyone to come speak.

In 2006, Democrats got Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin to speak, but weren’t able to announce it until two weeks before the convention, said Arden Manning, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party.

“It tends to be last minute,” he said.

Republicans will gather at the Augusta Civic Center May 2 and 3, and Democrats come later in the month on May 30 and 31.

If you could choose, who would you like to see?

For Republicans, how about Karl Rove? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is probably busy, but I bet she’d be interesting.

For Democrats, wouldn’t it be fun to hear House Speaker Nancy Pelosi? Who else?

The Democratic State Committee on Sunday chose Jennifer DeChant of Bath as a Superdelegate, replacing Rita Moran of Winthrop.

DeChant had been the Democratic National Committeewoman for three years when she missed three consecutive meetings, partly due to a difficult pregnancy. The committee then voted to replace her with Moran, a Kennebec County activist and local bookstore owner.

But some on the committee called for a do-over, and on Sunday, decided to reinstate DeChant to the position, said party executive director Arden Manning.

DeChant has yet to declare support for either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

Augusta Republicans are gearing up for the June and November elections by putting in place ward leaders who will be on the ground organizing neighborhoods.

In Ward 1 will be Bonnie Tucker and Vicky Briskey.
In Ward 2 will be Kim Davis and May Ross Coffin.
In Ward 3 will be Larry Ringrose and Jarody, who goes by only one name.
In Ward 4 will be Julie O’Brien and Patrick Rood.

Davis, a former state representative who is challenging Senate Majority Leader Libby Mitchell, D-Vassalboro for her Senate seat, said Republicans want to be well-organized.

“If we want to make real and positive change in Maine, we need a new direction,” Davis said in a statement. “The only way you can do that is by winning elections. We will win Augusta if we win every ward.”

Members of the Maine Democratic Party state committee will meet March 16 to decide whether to reconsider who should fill one of the party’s Superdelegate slots.

Maine Democratic Party officials are riding high today after shattering the previous caucus turnout record of 18,000 by drawing what party executive director Arden Manning described as “close to 45,000” to town halls and schools across the state

Just a few weeks ago, political scientists predicted Maine Democrats might be totally ignored in the presidential race because they decided to wait to caucus until after Super Tuesday. But when voters in more than 20 states failed to produce a clear frontrunner, Maine briefly took a turn in the national spotlight.

Visits by both candidates the day before the caucuses energized supporters of both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton. As of 11:30 last night, it looked like Obama would take 15 delegates while Clinton will get nine.

The Maine Democratic Party is predicting that more people than ever will attend their caucuses on Sunday, a belief based in part on the fact that they have already processed 4,100 absentee ballot requests.

Unlike the Republicans, Democrats will all meet in their own towns, rather than gather at regional events. The Democrats will meet in 372 “unique locations,” said Arden Manning, executive director of the party.

“This is an unprecedented level of local enthusiasm and is representative of the Democratic Party’s broad appeal,” he said in a statement.

The party will allow absentee ballots to be returned to them until 5 p.m. Wednesday. If you need one, go to mainedems.org.

Republicans from almost every municipality in Kennebec County will gather at Farrington School in Augusta Feb. 2 for their presidential preference caucus.

The county caucus starts at 10 a.m. and will be followed by individual city/town caucuses.

Republicans statewide will be the first Mainers to jump into the nationwide caucus and primary season, holding meetings on Feb. 1, 2, and 3.

Maine Democrats and some Green Independents will follow on Feb. 10.

The caucuses give candidates for all offices the chance to talk about themselves, get signatures if they need them, and get the party revved up for the June primary and November election.

Now that you’ve got the plastic torn off your 2008 calendar, it’s time to fill it up with some important political events in the new year.

Here’s the short list, all leading up to the biggest day of all — Nov. 4:

Maine Republican caucuses: Feb. 1, 2, 3
Maine Democratic caucuses: Feb. 10
Maine Green Independent caucuses: Feb. 10
Maine Republican Party State Convention: May 2 & 3 in Augusta
Maine Democratic Party State Convention: May 30-June 1 in Augusta
Green Independent National Convention: July 10-13 in Chicago
Democratic National Convention: Aug. 25-28 in Denver
Republican National Convention: Sept. 1-4 in St. Paul

Democrats will gather in Portland and Orono this weekend for an Organizing 101 session to get ready for the 2008 elections.

The closed meetings aren’t top secret, said Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Arden Manning, but they don’t want nosy media types there either.

“They aren’t super secret, but it’s not stuff we would want to publicize,” he said.

Waterville City Councilor Henry Beck, president of the Maine College Democrats, said the war in Iraq will be a major topic of discussion Saturday when college Democrats from all over the state head to Bowdoin College.

Their annual convention will feature a 4 p.m. debate with candidates running for the 1st Congressional District, and a 5:30 p.m. keynote address by U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, who’s challenging Sen. Susan Collins for her seat.

One of three recognized political parties in Maine has announced its opposition to the state law that requires school district consolidation.

Members of the Maine Green Independent Party will be in Augusta on Tuesday as part of a news conference organized by the Maine Coalition to Save Schools. The group is gathering signatures to try to repeal the law.

The Augusta Democratic City Committee chose three new leaders Tuesday evening — all under the age of 33.

At an informal meeting at Augusta City Center, about a dozen Democrats gathered to vote on a new slate of officers. Rep. Kim Silsby stepped down from her position as acting chairwoman, a post she had taken temporarily after former Rep. Arthur Lerman moved to Florida.

The new guys at the helm are: