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By SUSAN M. COVER
Staff Writer 12/31/2007

At first, Longley wasn't sure he'd have the time.

But once he agreed, he threw himself into the project.

"Longley took it serious," said Jim McGregor, who covered state government as a reporter with United Press International. "Dead serious."

The Maine Management and Cost Survey Commission released a report the following year with more than 800 recommendations, which were projected to save the state $24 million -- or more.

One of the major recommendations had to do with changing the state's university system, which did not go over well at the Capitol.

"The recommendations lasted about half an hour once they came to the Statehouse," McGregor said.

This reaction angered Longley. He and other prominent businessmen from across the state spent a lot of time putting together their list, only to have it dismissed by lawmakers.

"Longley smarted from it and didn't take the whipping lightly," McGregor said. "That's what propelled him to run for governor."

His unlikely rise to the state's highest office, his efforts to run government like a business, his personality, and his unique position as the state's first independent governor, make him a fascinating former chief executive, the last in a Kennebec Journal six-part series.

THE 1974 ELECTION

Longley ran on the slogan "Think About It," a phrase he often used with insurance customers to get them to consider his products, according to a book called "The Year of the Longley," by former reporter and Curtis speechwriter Willis Johnson.

A longtime Democrat, Longley ran as an independent partly because he missed the deadline to file as a party candidate, and partly because he had worked hard to be nonpartisan while leading the cost-cutting commission, he told reporters.

"The independence was not just a label he ran under, but a streak and a feeling that he exuded all the time," said Rep. Sawin Millett, R-Waterford, who served as Longley's education commissioner.

Longley campaigned on the issue of cutting government, using the name recognition he got as chairman of the cost survey commission as a way to reach voters.

Yet many of the stories and editorials leading up to Election Day focused on Republican James Erwin and Democrat George Mitchell -- who would go on to become a U.S. senator and, more recently, author a report on steroid use in Major League Baseball.

But by Halloween, just five days before the election, political writer Jim Brunelle did an analysis piece that ran in the Daily Kennebec Journal under the headline "Longley's now significant in gubernatorial campaign."

Brunelle wrote that it was possible that "there are one or two demented pundits hallucinating somewhere in a darkened cave who have permitted themselves the ultimate fantasy."

"What if, what if, what if . . . but never mind, for that way lies madness."

McGregor, who by this point had quit his reporting job to join the Longley campaign, said though he doesn't often believe that newspaper editorial endorsements impact a race, the backing of the Bangor Daily News gave Longley momentum.

"It was almost instant legitimacy that established us as one of the three candidates," he said.

The Saturday before the election, an Associated Press poll had Mitchell at 27 percent, Erwin at 23 percent and Longley at 13 percent.

That still left 37 percent of voters in the undecided category.

One of the few with an inkling of what was to come was Duke Dulac, who put together his first barber poll that year after hearing numerous customers say they were voting for the dark horse.

With three names on the handmade Augusta barbershop ballot -- each rotated to the top -- Longley pulled 38 percent or 39 percent of the vote, Dulac said.

People told him he was crazy.

On election night, Portland Press Herald writer Andy Merdek spent time at Longley campaign headquarters in Auburn, where people crowded around televisions, ate snacks and visited the bar.

Here's how he described the scene:

"Early on, a middle-aged man at the bar, distinguished only by white socks and a trace of French accent, explained the situation to a friend.

'Look around,' he implored. 'Average folks, average voters. Nobody's going to kiss us off.'"

On Election Day, Longley won with 39 percent of the vote, followed by Mitchell at 36 percent, Erwin with 23 percent and a smattering of votes for three other men in the race.

CHANGES ON DAY 1

Before he even took office, Longley started making changes.

He moved the inauguration from the House chamber, which cannot accommodate large crowds, to the Augusta Civic Center so more people could attend.

In his 15-minute inaugural address, he called for a one-year moratorium on new programs, the elimination of the office of state treasurer, and a halt to the practice of government officials lobbying lawmakers for more money.

"This is government incest at its worst and must be eliminated," he said.

He also talked about how people didn't think he could win the election and that many other states would be watching Maine with its unusual new government -- an independent governor, a Democratic House and a Republican Senate.

"The comment has been made that operations of government cannot be treated like a business," he said. "I reject this philosophy because to say that good business practices cannot be brought to government is to say it is the nature of government to be wasteful and inefficient."

Millett, who served as his education commissioner, said Longley was not only determined to make government run more like a business, but he felt he was "the people's governor."

Millett said Longley worked "24/7" and expected long hours from his staff as well. Weekend meetings were not uncommon, and instead of taking a break to eat, Longley would pass around a jar of M&M's to keep everyone going, he said.

TOUGH TENURE

Longley's "good Irish temper" as described by McGregor didn't help the new governor in his first two years in office.

He surprised people by installing locks on doors, and throwing people out of his office, Johnson wrote. He had those deep set eyes that were piercing "all the time," according to the Portland Press Herald.

He insisted on signing every piece of mail that came into the office.

He sometimes stayed at work until 2 a.m. writing personal notes, and McGregor, who served as his administrative assistant, described him as a prolific letter writer.

"Sometimes nice letters and sometimes terse letters, to people who had done something good or displeased him," McGregor said.

Longley truly loved to run the office and sometimes championed causes most governors would stay out of.

For example, when he heard there was a woman at the Augusta Mental Health Institute who refused to eat, he took her an ice cream cone and convinced her to eat it, McGregor said.

When it came to dealing with the Legislature, Longley holds the record for the most vetoes issued by a Maine governor in a single year, with 49 in 1972. Nearly half were overridden by the Legislature.

Sen. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, who was House Speaker during Longley's tenure, said once Longley made up his mind, there was no question where he stood.

"I didn't find him difficult, I found him stubborn," Martin said. "Nothing wrong with that."

HIS RECORD

Martin said Longley did get at least some of his cost-saving measures implemented.

Millett, who now serves on the Legislature's Appropriations Committee, said some of the financial controls now used by governors date back to Longley.

Before Longley left office, the state had a growing surplus that allowed him to push through $40 million in tax rebates, and unemployment was cut in half, according to his obituary in the Lewiston Daily Sun.

Also, Maine was the only state whose per capita tax burden had gone down instead of up, the story said.

Early in his tenure, he lost a battle when lawmakers overrode his veto of an increase in the state income tax.

The obituary also noted that Longley worked to promote Maine to out-of-state companies, an effort that brought a major new employer -- Pratt & Whitney Aircraft -- to southern Maine.

NO RE-ELECTION BID

When he ran for governor in 1974, Longley told voters he would serve only one term.

As his administration wore on, he began to open the door ever-so-slightly to the possibility of another run. But in April of his last year in office, Longley told his staff he would not run again.

Millett said many in Longley's cabinet were hoping for a second term.

"I thought he was ready to run again and I think he would have been elected," Millett said.

Shortly after his term ended, Longley worked with conservatives on a national movement for a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.

A year after leaving office, Longley acknowledged he had cancer. Eight months later, on Aug. 16, 1980, he died in his Lewiston home. He was 56.

McGregor said Longley proved that one person can make a difference, and his bid as an independent made it easier for those who would come after him, including two-term independent Gov. Angus King.

For folks like Dulac, the Augusta barber, Longley proved popular.

"At the time, probably that's what we needed," he said. "Maybe we need another Longley now."

Susan Cover -- 623-1056

scover@centralmaine.com

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