Three Announce Congress Bids
Three candidates for Congressman Tom Allen’s seat in the US Congress made their candidacies official in June.

North Haven small-businesswoman and former Maine Senate Majority Leader Democrat Chellie Pingree officially kicked off her grassroots campaign for Congress in Maine’s First Congressional District on June 15th at a press conference at the Eastern Prom Gazebo at Fort Allen Park on Munjoy Hill.

Former Senate Majority Leader Michael Brennan announced on June 26th that he is a Democratic candidate for Congress.

Republican Charles Summers also announced that he would be a candidate for the seat, declaring that Maine needs strong, experienced leadership in Washington.

Brennan, in a speech to supporters outside of Portland’s Oxford Street Shelter said “Today is the beginning of our campaign to reclaim the values of the Democratic Party, and make it a party that stands proudly for doing right by people.”

“It’s time for real change in this country,” Pingree said. “Six years of George Bush and the Republicans in Congress have severely harmed our country. They deliberately squandered America’s economic, military, and moral authority. Their vision for America could not be more different from mine.”

Summers is the former Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration and 2004 nominee for Congress. "With only two members of Congress, it’s crucial that Maine has strong, experienced representation in Congress,” he said.

Brennan, a Portland resident and native, said that in order for Democrats in Washington to regain the mantle of leadership, they must act quickly and strongly to deal with the major challenges that Mainers and Americans face, including eradicating poverty, providing universal health care, revamping and strengthening the education system for the 21st century, fighting global warming, and particularly, ending the War in Iraq.