AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) _ Maine Democrats are calling on the Republican Party to retract campaign mailers that they say falsely blame gubernatorial candidate Mike Michaud for the loss of jobs at a paper mill.
The mailer says that Michaud's "anti-jobs law'' helped put "hundreds of hardworking people'' out of work. The law that Michaud sponsored in 2002 prevented Great Northern Paper mills from shutting down production so that they could sell the electricity generated by the dams.
Democrats say the law was necessary at the time to protect jobs. It was approved unanimously without a roll call vote in the state Senate, which included Rick Bennett, now chairman of the Republican Party.
In a statement, Bennett says that he and others relied on Michaud's judgment but it turned out to be "misplaced trust.''