The Dem primary race in the district has "taken a negative turn," with state Sen. Ethan Strimling (D) and ex-Common Cause pres./'02 SEN nominee Chellie Pingree (D) "at odds over contributions from a wealthy hedge fund manager and leveling charges of political mudslinging at each other." At the center of the dispute is a financier named S. Donald Sussman, who has given Pingree's camp $4.6K, with his partners at hedge fund Paloma Partners giving her an "additional" $46K.
The contributions are legal, but Strimling has "seized on them to attack Pingree," who as of 3/31 had raised $1.1M. The "focus of Strimling's criticism has been to try to draw a contrast between Pingree's deep-pocketed contributors and her background championing campaign-finance reform" as the ex-pres. of advocacy group Common Cause.
Strimling: "When someone is dumping that kind of money into your campaign, you have to ask, 'Why are they interested? Why are they doing that?' I'm just disappointed and surprised."
Pingree says she "favors closing the tax loophole and supports tighter regulation of the hedge fund industry." Pingree said in an interview that "if elected, she won't be influenced by her contributors' money." Pingree: "I don't think that anyone who donates money to me has any illusions about how I will vote. I'm about as progressive as you can get, and I'm never going to change where I stand or how I vote."
The Pingree camp "fired back" at Strimling, accusing him of "manufacturing controversy." Pingree spokesperson Willy Ritch: "This time, Sussman is not supporting [Strimling], so suddenly they decide he's bad. It sounds like some kind of 11th-hour conversion to me."
Strimling "said that when Sussman gave money to Casinos No!, it was clear what Sussman's motivation was: To prevent the construction of a casino" in ME. Strimling: "We knew what the purpose was then. The issue is, 'Why is the hedge fund industry giving money to Chellie Pingree?" (Wack, Kennebec Journal Morning Sentinel, 4/22).
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