Today, Maine senators Snowe and Collins will once again play a decisive role in determining the outcome of a significant piece of federal legislation, in this case the bill to better regulate financial institutions.

Political consultant Dennis Bailey, recently the strategic force behind Rosa Scarcelli’s primary campaign, is now working for independent gubernatorial candidate Shawn Moody. Fellow independent Eliot Cutler doesn't seem to like this.

Here's the text of an email he wrote to Bailey's recent employer, Democratic candidate Rosa Scarcelli:
 

In January, I discussed the rise of not-for-profit political journalism in Maine. Add another outlet to that list.

No other political contest in Maine can match the inherent power of the governorship. If you’re looking for the best way to set the agenda, shape the political landscape, and make your vision into law, you don’t want to be a U.S. Senator or to have your party win majorities in the legislature — you want the Blaine House.

   

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This election’s prediction pool is a study in contrasts. Libby Mitchell’s success in the Democratic race, it seems, was easy to predict. The size of Republican Paul LePage’s margin of victory, however, was a surprise even to his most engaged supporters.

For this election, I’ve split the results into three sections (the Democratic primary, the Republican primary, and the ballot questions) and the winner in each will win a button from a Maine campaign.

The big surprise from last night's gubernatorial primary was definitely the overwhelming victory on the Republican side by Tea Party favorite Paul LePage. LePage winning isn't shocking — he has long been considered one of the top four candidates — but the margin he won by must bring with it a new examination of the power of the right wing within the Maine GOP electorate, a group previously notable for their moderation.

  

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Elections are the ultimate performance evaluation. Next week, the merit of years of strategy and months of hard campaigning from each of eleven gubernatorial candidates will be decided in one day of voting.

What do you think will happen?

Or, perhaps a more important question: Do you think you’re smarter than Rep. Sean Flaherty?

Of the twenty-nine districts with contested primaries for state representative in Maine this year, District 119 is by far the most confusing.

Somewhere around six different candidates are seeking the seat being vacated by term-limited legislator Herb Adams. Megan Sanborn will definitely be on the ballot as a Republican, but how many opponents she’ll have and who they’ll be is up in the air.

When I first wrote about the strange case of Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Abbott’s campaign obtaining and using the GOP delegate list before the other Republican candidates, I thought it was just a small piece of campaign errata and likely the result of a simple misunderstanding.

Pat McGowan loves to campaign.

When we spoke last week in the early afternoon, he had already put in an eleven-hour day. He was on the road since 3 a.m. in order to shake hands at the gate of the Rumford mill at 4:15, had already appeared on Biddeford public access television, met with local officials, and toured a wind power site. After our phone interview, he was headed out to distribute campaign signs and then a fair trade forum at Oxford Hills High School and then to bed at 10 p.m.