Tag Archives: Maine

Via the Bangor Daily News: First Lady Michelle Obama had a clear message for supporters of gubernatorial candidate Mike Michaud attending a rally at the University of Maine on Friday: Get out to vote and bring like-minded people with you. “Barack won because of record numbers of women and minorities and young people who showed up to vote,” she said, …

“My opponent, Republican Susan Collins, had the chance to speak up in favor of marriage equality in 2012 or any time in the previous decade. Two years after her constituents made their feelings known at the ballot box, she has refused to break her silence. I believe Mainers need, want and deserve more proactive representation on equal rights — on …

Via the Bangor Daily News: The Maine Ethics Commission gave the National Organization for Marriage a reprieve Wednesday on disclosing the donor list from its 2009 campaign against same-sex marriage in Maine. But the five-person commission did not back down on its demand for the national organization to pay a $50,250 fine for violating the state’s campaign finance and disclosure …

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has become the fourth GOP member of her chamber to endorse marriage equality. “A number of states, including my home state of Maine, have now legalized same-sex marriage, and I agree with that decision,” the Maine Republican said in a statement issued after several news organizations made inquiries. Collins joins three other GOP senators who have …

Via the Associated Press: A Democratic candidate who reluctantly made public his homosexuality last year found himself serving as the grand marshal of Maine’s biggest gay pride parade and festival Saturday and urged activists to continue fighting to eliminate discrimination and promote equality. Mike Michaud, who would become the nation’s first openly gay person to be elected governor if he …

Yesterday’s Maine gubernatorial primary was a mere formality as both major parties ran uncontested candidates, but openly gay six-term US Rep. Mike Michaud is now one step closer to becoming the nation’s first governor to have been out at the time of his election. Michaud, who came out in November 2013, will face incumbent GOP Gov. Paul LePage in the …

Via the Portland Press Herald: The National Organization for Marriage, the nation’s leading opponent of gay marriage, has filed two retaliatory complaints claiming that its adversaries violated Maine election laws more than four years ago. The complaints against the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force stem from campaign activity in the 2009 referendum over Maine’s …

“NOM vigorously denies that it violated any disclosure laws during the 2009 campaign opposing same-sex marriage. We worked with legal counsel to understand the law, and we followed that advice. The Commission staff has drawn improper inferences from the circumstances of the campaign environment that they wrongly interpret as meaning that if someone gave to NOM somehow they designated their …

UPDATE: The Portland Press Herald reports. NOM executives, two of whom were present for the hearing, vowed to fight the ruling and protect the anonymity of the organization’s donors. John Eastman, the attorney and board chairman for NOM, said revealing the donors would put them at risk of threats and harassment while hindering the organization’s ability to raise money. Eastman …

From the Bangor Daily News: The results of the commission’s investigation might seem irrelevant now, given that five years have passed — because the commission faced two lawsuits from NOM, both of which NOM lost — and the issue of same-sex marriage is largely settled in Maine. But the principle remains, and the precedent is important. It’s quite likely the …

Clip recap: “More than sixteen and a half million Americans gained marriage equality last week, with decisive victories in Oregon and Pennsylvania. We have brand new lawsuits in the last few states that needed one. And the National Organization for Marriage has suffered even more losses this week.”

“After nearly five years of Brian Brown and his NOM fighting in court against the investigation that I got launched against them in Maine, the verdict is in and NOM is guilty of numerous counts of election fraud. Ten days after I filed my complaint against NOM in Maine back in 2009, I was subpoenaed by NOM’s high-priced attorneys in …

Just below the fold on the right. (Tipped by JMG reader Greg)

“NOM strongly denies the findings of the staff report in Maine. We did not raise funds designated for the Maine campaign and fully complied with Maine law. The staff has ignored uncontested sworn evidence from donors that we did not designate any contributions for the referendum effort and instead has focused on circumstantial evidence to support its conclusion when a …

Via the Bangor Daily News: Maine ethics investigators are recommending more than $50,000 in fines for a national anti-gay-marriage organization for failing to register and disclose its activities in Maine’s 2009 same-sex marriage referendum. That year, an effort to legalize same-sex marriage — approved by the Legislature and signed by then-Gov. John Baldacci — was repealed at the ballot box …

Via the Maine Press-Herald: On the heels of the 2012 convention that highlighted divisions within Maine’s GOP, Republicans emphasized the importance of bringing together all factions of the party for a common cause this year. “We need to be united in our efforts to work for a better Maine,” said Cary Weston, a former mayor of Bangor who is running …

The Maine state Senate voted against it yesterday, so that’s that, right? RIGHT?

The Maine House is currently debating a bill that would legalize anti-gay discrimination on the basis of “sincerely held religious beliefs.” Unbelievable. Maine!  Watch it live. (Via New Civil Rights)