Democratic leaders in the Maine Senate are denouncing what they say are outright lies in campaign mailings that support senate Republican candidates. GOP leaders dismiss the claims, and they say that Democrats are spreading distortions as well.
At a State House news conference, Assistant Minority Leader Nate Libby, of Lewiston, and others cited a half-dozen races in which they say Republican campaign groups are making false claims about themselves and about their Democratic opponents.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that the Republican party is embarking on a concerted effort to mislead the public in several competitive districts through small, but escalating lies,” says Libby.
Senate Minority Leader Troy Jackson of Allagash says he’s been fielding a lot of complaints about what he calls “total lies.” He points to the Auburn Senate contest, in which Republicans claim Democrat Ned Claxton voted to increase taxes. The problem, says Jackson, is that Claxton has never held office.
”It cited the 124th Legislature and another Legislature, the 128th Legislature,” Jackson says. “I don’t know that Ned has actually served in any role, certainly did not serve in the 124th and the 128th.”
Republican Senate President Mike Thibodeau says Democrats are overreaching in their complaints, and that they are making laughable claims and distortions of their own. District 14 Republican candidate Matt Stone says that Thibodeau has come under scrutiny for saying he was born and raised in the district, when he was actually born in Bangor.
“For a decade I have been telling everybody I was born and raised in Waldo County,” Thibodeau said. “The fact of the matter was I was actually born in Bangor, and it took my mom 24 hours to get me back home. I didn’t know I was committing some kind of fraud on the people of Waldo County to say that. This is getting a little silly.”
The state Republican party did admit to distributing a flyer in the Waldo County Senate seat that inaccurately claimed GOP candidate Jayne Giles had been endorsed by the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM). Party officials say it was a design error that should instead have focused on her A+ rating from the group. SAM also gave her opponent, Democrat Erin Herbig, the same A+ rating.
Originally published Oct. 18, 2018 at 5:13 p.m. ET.
