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Appeal on Fast Track
Portland, Maine — Gubernatorial candidate Pat LaMarche's appeal of the recent Ethics Commission decision allowing an out-of-state special interest group to run television ads on behalf of the Republican gubernatorial candidate is on the fast track. Superior Court Justice S. Kirk Studstrup agreed on Tuesday to expedite the appeal process, setting a hearing date of October 18.
"By running these ads, the Republican and Democratic parties, and their gubernatorial candidates, are demonstrating that they have no respect for either the voters of this state or the Clean Elections law," said LaMarche. Maine's major newspapers apparently agree with LaMarche's assessment. |
LaMarche's attorney, Lynne Williams of Bar Harbor, filed the appeal Monday in Kennebec County Superior Court and requested the court to consider the matter on an expedited basis.
On Wednesday, Williams will also file paperwork with the court, asking it to rule on advertisements paid for by the Maine Democratic Party as part of the same case. Although LaMarche had not filed a complaint with the Ethics Commission about the Democratic ads running on behalf of the incumbent, she was a party to the proceedings where the Democratic ads were challenged and can therefore appeal that aspect of the Commission's ruling.
Both the Republican and Democratic parties have been systematically undermining Maine's Clean Elections laws, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars running ads supporting their candidates, while claiming that the ads are about "issues" and are not subject to independent expenditure requirements.
"By running these ads, the Republican and Democratic parties, and their gubernatorial candidates, are demonstrating that they have no respect for either the voters of this state or the Clean Elections law," said LaMarche.
Maine's major newspapers apparently agree with LaMarche's assessment. As just one of many examples, an editorial in Sunday's Kennebec Journal said "the intent of the state's landmark Clean Elections law is being cynically undermined" by the Republican and Democratic parties "and their candidates running for governor."
