MPBN: Mitchell Wins Democratic Nomination
June 9, 2010
“Hello this is Bill Clinton. I’m calling to ask you to join me in helping to elect my long time friend Libby Mitchell as the Democratic candidate for governor this Tuesday. I know Libby has the determination and the skill to move Maine forward…”
The Clinton robo call went out to thousands of Maine Democrats Monday and may very well have given Mitchell the push she needed to take a commanding lead over her four rivals to secure the Democratic nomination with about 35% of all ballots cast. But Mitchell says gender may have also played a role.
“In Augusta which is part of my senate district, the most well-dressed lady I have ever met was walking up to the polls and she said ‘I’m 97 years old, and this might be the last time I get to vote and I want to vote for a woman for governor!” Mitchell told cheering supporters in Portland.
After accepting her party’s nomination, Mitchell said she intends to run a campaign that will reflect her vision of a new era for governing in Maine.
“I really want to be the politics of hope, not fear. I want to bring people together and not be divisive. Maine really wants us to get the job done. Partisan politics are really a thing of the past”
Former Maine Attorney General Steve Rowe initially appeared to be on the verge of securing the nomination when the Portland returns came in, but as the results from the polls fanned out from across the state, Rowe’s numbers dropped leaving him with about 23% of the vote. Mitchell’s name recognition may have been a factor in her showing against Rowe who had locked up the support of many progressive organizations.
“Tonight feel a lot of things. I feel tired. I feel relieved. I feel happy,” said Rowe. “But most of all I feel proud. I feel proud to have had a great campaign. To have so many friends and supporters…so thank you!”
Rosa Scarcelli, the Portland business woman who fashioned an outsider strategy to secure the nomination finished third in the race with about 21 percent of the vote. That left one candidate to finish last.
“We knew that a low turnout would not be good for the McGowan campaign”
Patrick McGowan, of Hallowell, was once one of the brightest stars in Maine Democratic politics. After nearly defeating then Congresswoman Olympia Snowe twice 20 years ago. McGowan went on to become the New England administrator for the Small Business Administration and then later the commissioner of Conservation But McGowan’s plan to win the second congressional district and take a respectable share of the first district never got off the ground.
“I think the second district is funny. In my old home town you’d see a Lepage sign and a McGowan sign. So there’s a lot of frustration out there with the voters that we’re seeing. And some of them maybe didn’t come out”, McGowan said.
Although turnout was expected to be between 15 % and 20% percent during the primary, about 90,000 Democrats cast ballots in the election, about 28 % of all party members in the state.
