LaMarche Campaign to Appeal Ruling

Portland, Maine — Gubernatorial candidate Pat LaMarche announced that she will appeal a recent Ethics Commission decision which held that ads promoting the candidacy of the Republican gubernatorial candidate did not "expressly advocate" for his election. The decision came last Friday, with the Commission's two Democratic and two Republican members voting to overrule the recommendation of the Commission's professional staff.

"The lone independent on the Commission agreed with the recommendation of the hard working members of the Commission staff," said LaMarche in announcing the appeal of the decision to Superior Court.

At issue are two advertisements, produced and paid for by the Republican Governors Association, in support of the Republican candidate for Governor, Chandler Woodcock. The ads are campaign style ads clearly supporting Woodcock's candidacy. The commission ruled that because one of
the ads did not use the word "vote" or "for" but merely said "Woodcock, Governor," it was not expressly advocating for Woodcock's election.

"Ironically, Chandler's lawn signs merely say 'Woodcock' and 'Governor,'" said LaMarche. "Does that mean that Chandler's own lawn signs don't advocate for his election?"

LaMarche said she is pursuing an appeal because her role, as a clean elections candidate, is "to preserve the integrity of the clean elections process."

The Maine Democratic Party is airing similar ads condemning Woodcock and promoting the candidacy of the incumbent governor. LaMarche said that the Democratic ads also violate the spirit and letter of the Clean Elections law.

Maine's clean elections laws are intended to reduce the influence of special interest money in Maine politics. "This is the only state with even a marginally working clean elections system, which is why the two parties are working so hard to corrupt it," said LaMarche.