March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Curtis set to co-host King event

LEWISTON — Plans by former Democratic Gov. Kenneth Curtis to co-host a fund-raiser for independent Gov. Angus King’s re-election campaign don’t shock the Democrats’ gubernatorial nominee.

Thomas Connolly said he’s “hurt, but not surprised” by Curtis’ decision to co-host the fund-raiser on Aug. 11 with KeyCorp. Curtis was Maine governor during the late 1960s and early 1970s and is also a former Democratic National Committee chairman.

Connolly, a Portland lawyer, said the “money people” are supporting King, but the working people are on his side.

“It’s the ones that just kind of give you a false smile and a pat on the back; those are the ones that are defecting,” said Connolly. “But the ones who are out there working, struggling to make a living, they’re coming to me.”

King finance chairman James Broder says it’s “significant” that Curtis is supporting King.

“I think it reflects the good job Governor Curtis thinks Governor King is doing,” Broder said.

King’s campaign finance committee displays some of the bipartisan backing he gained in winning the Blaine House four years ago.

Among the longtime party activists on the King team are lawyer Harold Pachios of Cape Elizabeth, who is a former chairman of the state Democratic Party, and Republican lawyer Roger Katz of Augusta.

The latest campaign finance reports show Connolly and the Republican gubernatorial nominee, James B. Longley Jr., lagging far behind King in raising campaign funds.

Through July 14, King raised nearly $328,000 — including loans to himself of more than $109,000 — and spent more than $276,000.

Connolly’s total funding was $34,238, while Longley’s campaign reported taking in only $8,946. Independent candidate Pat LaMarche, a Green Party activist, has raised $4,815 and Bill Clarke of the Maine Taxpayers Party reported total receipts of $372.80.


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