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Maine Lawmakers Urged To Fix Typo Holding Up Clean Election Funding

Patty Wight
/
Maine Public
Maine independent candidate for governor Terry Hayes - also Maine's state Treasurer - at an Augusta news conference Monday.

Independent gubernatorial candidate Terry Hayes is urging legislators to correct a typo that's preventing Clean Election funding from being released to qualified candidates.

Hayes, who is Maine's state treasurer, was joined today at a State House press conference by other publicly funded candidates who are urging that the funding be released.

"I think probably the most nefarious outcome, the most negative outcome, is that it signifcantly erodes the trust that people have in the people who are doing the governing," Hayes said.

Hayes said she and the other candidates have based their campaigns on Clean Election funding.

"It will be much more difficult to do an effective statewide race, if you will, and be competitive if I'm not able to access the funds that should be available," she said.

Hayes is one of nearly 200 Clean Election candidates for November. Voters approved the Maine Clean Election Act more than 20 years ago. It provides money for candidates who demonstrate community support through collecting a certain number of small contributions.

Maine Citizens for Clean Elections has filed a lawsuit seeking to force Gov. Paul LePage to release other Clean Election funds that are already in the bank from previous years.

This story was originally published July 9, 2018 at 1:13 p.m. ET.

Nora is originally from the Boston area but has lived in Chicago, Michigan, New York City and at the northern tip of New York state. Nora began working in public radio at Michigan Radio in Ann Arbor and has been an on-air host, a reporter, a digital editor, a producer, and, when they let her, played records.