Last in a series of profiles of candidates running in the 1st Congressional District primary races.

BY PAUL CARRIER

Blethen Maine Newspapers

Charles Summers of Scarborough launched his bid for Maine's 1st Congressional District seat last July.

But even with an opponent in the June 10 primary, he didn't start campaigning until May 12.

A bad case of hubris? Hardly.

While the rest of the field -- a Republican and six Democrats -- crisscrossed the district, Summers, a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves, was stationed in Iraq as a public-affairs officer.

Military regulations prevented him from campaigning until he returned home on May 10.

His absence thrust his wife, Ruth Summers, into the limelight for months on end as she filled in for her husband at caucuses, debates and other forums.

"I have a great candidate to talk about," Ruth Summers said shortly before her husband's return. "It makes my job very easy."

The unusual arrangement finally came to an end on May 12, when Summers began campaigning on his own behalf. Introducing himself at a candidates' forum in Manchester the following night, Summers joked that he had "just joined this merry band of warriors."

Summers faces Dean Scontras of Eliot in next month's primary, when GOP voters will pick one of them to go up against the Democratic nominee in the general election Nov. 4.

The winner of that race will claim the House seat of Democratic Rep. Tom Allen of Portland, who is challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in her bid for a third term.

While Summers was in Iraq, Scontras complained that going up against Ruth Summers was "a little bit like shadow boxing" because she's not the candidate.

Making up for lost time

But Ruth Summers insists that the Republicans she met while making the rounds for her husband respect the fact that he missed much of the campaign because duty called.

"It's not like he's on a Mediterranean cruise," she said days before his return.

Summers' prolonged absence shouldn't hurt him politically, said James Melcher, a political scientist at the University of Maine at Farmington. "His wife has been doing a phenomenal job" on his behalf, Melcher said.

Hoping to make up for lost time, Summers will take part in about a dozen debates and forums in the three weeks that remain before the primary. If he wins that race on June 10, Melcher said, he will then have plenty of time to make his case to the voters before Nov. 4.

Poised and perfectly coiffed when he isn't wearing what he calls the "army chewed" style he came home with, Summers has sometimes been written off over the years because of his looks and calm demeanor. But Democratic Sen. Barry Hobbins of Saco, a friend for many years, describes that as a bum rap.

"He has good common sense, good street smarts, good people skills and he's smart," Hobbins said. "I think he's underestimated by the Democrats because he looks too good."

Those people skills were on display when Summers stopped in at Duke's Rotary Barber and Beauty Shop in Augusta one day last week. "What's new? What's on people's minds?" Summers asked owner Duke Dulac after introducing himself to staffers and customers. "You got any pointers for me on what I ought to be doing?"

Summers is articulate and experienced and he has "the military card to play" because of his Iraqi tour, said Dr. Dag Holmsen of Waterville, who heard him speak at a candidates' forum in Manchester last week. An animal lover who owns two former race horses and has taught his wife to ride, Summers is no stranger to politics. He served in the state Senate for two consecutive terms from 1991 through 1994.

During that time, he joined other Senate Republicans in voting to shut down state government for more than two weeks as they tried to force the Legislature to pass workers' compensation reforms designed to cut costs.

At the time, Democrats accused the Senate GOP bloc of acting irresponsibly by holding the state budget hostage to get their way on workers' comp changes.

Summers made an unsuccessful bid for the GOP nomination in the 1st Congressional District in 1994, placing second to James Longley in a four-man contest. Longley won that November, only to lose his seat to Allen two years later.

Following his failed congressional bid, Summers worked as U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe's top staffer in Maine for a decade. The death of his first wife, Debra, in a car crash in 1997 left him a widower with two children.

"He was as devoted to his kids as he could be," said Richard Pfeffer, a friend and the owner of Gritty McDuff's. "He really didn't miss a beat on it," Pfeffer said, because raising his children was "his primary objective."

Summers won the Republican nomination in the 1st Congressional District in 2004, but he was unable to oust Allen that year. He later took a job as regional administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, where he worked from 2005 to 2007.

Hoping to promote Summers' electability, his camp notes that he fared better in 2004 than any other Republican who has challenged Allen. That is true, but Summers' 40.2 percent showing against Allen in 2004 was not dramatically stronger than that of several fellow Republicans who captured between 35 percent and 36 percent of the vote in their own races against Allen.

Scontras raised more money than Summers through the end of March, the close of the most recent reporting period, taking in $274,000 to Summers' $186,000. But Summers had more cash on hand March 31 -- $106,000 to Scontras' $50,000.

"The important time to have money is right now," as June 10 draws near, said Philip Harriman, who chairs the Summers campaign. In a campaign video that was prepared before he left for Iraq, Summers says federal spending "is out of control." He pledges to work for a smaller government, low taxes and less federal spending, as well as to "protect and grow good-paying jobs here in Maine."

Summers says he is committed to "bolstering America's energy independence" by pushing to discover "new energy sources and energy technologies here in the United States." He has said the country must make wind, solar and nuclear power part of the mix, and provide tax breaks for fuel-efficient vehicles and for solar power.

Emphasis on experience

Summers has vowed to fight excessive regulation of small businesses, fully fund health care for veterans and back health plans that would allow small businesses to band together across state lines to get group discounts on insurance. He would make the cost of health insurance fully deductible.

Although Scontras is arguably more conservative than Summers, Summers says the key difference between them is not ideology but his own experience, both as a small businessman who once owned a redemption center in Biddeford and as someone whose resume shows that he can "navigate the federal system." He said he has a better chance of winning in November, a notion that Scontras disputes.

"Ruth has worked so hard" and his campaign "is in great shape" as a result, Summers told Dulac, the Augusta barber. Now it's his turn to defend himself against suggestions that Republicans should look to a fresh face this time around.

"I think my experience over the years is something I can use to represent people effectively in Washington," Summers said. "When did it become a bad thing to be in public service?"