(The Center Square) — A veteran Republican Maine state lawmaker is leaving the party and running for governor as an independent candidate, saying he wants to move away from “cynicism” and “hateful rhetoric” in politics.
State Sen. Rick Bennett, of Oxford, announced Tuesday that he is dropping his longtime GOP affiliation and jumping into a crowded field of contenders vying to replace Gov. Janet Mills, a two-term Democrat who is barred from seeking reelection next year under term limits in next year’s gubernatorial election.
Bennett cited voter dissatisfaction with the two-party political system in his campaign announcement, stressing his bipartisan work on issues from the lack of affordable housing in the state to the influence of money in state politics. He pledged to run on a platform of “common sense and a shared commitment of getting things done.”
“It is time to remake our politics, to reclaim it,” Bennett said Tuesday. “We must turn away from the cynicism. The cruelty and the fear that have crept too far into our public discourse. The hateful rhetoric, the divisiveness. The constant effort to pit neighbor against neighbor. That is not who we are in Maine and is not who we should ever be as a country.”
Bennett, 62, is a former chairman of the state’s Republican Party who in recent years has sided with Democrats against other GOP lawmakers on issues including transgender rights.
“We’ve spent a lot of energy talking about transgender athletes,” he said in remarks Tuesday. “I wish we would’ve spent a lot of that time talking about what’s ailing our schools and supporting teachers and kids.”
At least a dozen contenders have already thrown their hat in the ring to run for governor in next year’s election, including Democrats Secretary of State Sheena Bellows and former Senate President Troy Jackson, according to published reports.
On the Republican ticket, state Sen. Jim Libby, Bobby Charles, real estate developer David Jones and businessman Owen McCarthy have filed to seek the GOP’s nomination to run for governor.
Bennett’s decision to run on the independent line means he can bypass the GOP primary next July, and appear on the November General election ballot.
Maine’s electorate has a long history of supporting independent candidates, and has elected at least two governors who ran on independent tickets. That includes Angus King, now a U.S. senator, who is running for governor next year as a Democrat.
