Michael ends campaign bid for governor

AUGUSTA -- Independent John Michael of Auburn is abandoning his bid for the Blaine House, leaving six gubernatorial hopefuls in the race.

Michael announced late last week that he had stopped campaigning, and then said he probably would quit the race. He took the final step during an interview Monday, saying he plans to ask state officials to remove his name from the Nov. 7 ballot. "I'm effectively dropping out of the race," Michael said.

The six remaining candidates are Democratic Gov. John Baldacci of Bangor, Republican Chandler Woodcock of Farmington, Green Independent Patricia LaMarche of Yarmouth and independents David Jones of Falmouth, Barbara Merrill of Appleton and Phillip Morris NaPier of Windham.

Monday's announcement came three days after Michael's lawyer, Stephen Whiting of Portland, notified state officials that Michael was dropping his quest for public financing in his race for governor.

The staff of the state Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices turned Michael down June 30, saying he failed to submit enough contributions from supporters to qualify for public financing and he may have engaged in "a pattern of fraud in obtaining qualifying contributions."

Insisting he complied with the rules, Michael appealed the decision to the ethics commission, but he then asked the commission to delay a hearing until the governor filled a vacancy on the five-member panel.

Baldacci later nominated an independent, Bangor attorney Michael Friedman, to join the two Democrats and two Republicans who are on the commission now, and the state Senate is expected to confirm that appointment next month. That would have set the stage for a hearing on Michael's appeal, if he had pursued it. In a statement released Aug. 25, Michael said he had decided he was unlikely to win his appeal and, even if he did, he wouldn't get enough money from the Clean Election Fund to beat Baldacci.

Michael, who ran for governor as an independent four years ago, was not viewed as a major candidate in this year's race, especially after he lost his bid for public financing. As a privately funded candidate in 2002, Michael only raised a few thousand dollars and placed last in a four-man race, with just over 2 percent of the vote.

Still, political analysts said Monday that Michael's departure may have some effect on the campaign, in part because he has a tough-talking style that set him apart from the rest of the field. For example, Michael charged recently that the ethics commission was biased against conservative independents like him, and he has routinely attacked the state's political establishment.

Michael said Monday he would have stayed in the race if he had "a barrel of money" because then he could "whack" the other candidates.

"It may be a more mild campaign" with Michael out of the picture, said Jim Melcher, a political scientist at the University of Maine at Farmington. The campaign may become "more conventional" without the chance of Michael saying or doing something unexpected, said political scientist Mark Brewer of the University of Maine.

Melcher said Woodcock, the Republican candidate, may benefit somewhat from Michael's departure because Woodcock can continue to emphasize the economy and downplay his conservatism on social issues without worrying about losing conservative voters to Michael.

Brewer took a different view, saying Michael's exit may help the governor a bit because the outspoken Michael would have hammered away at Baldacci over the next two months. Now Baldacci only has to worry about five opponents attacking his record, not six, as he seeks a second four-year term.

But Melcher and Brewer agreed that Michael's departure will not dramatically alter any of the other candidates' prospects. Melcher noted that Michael "wasn't drawing that much support" in the polls, prompting Brewer to predict that Michael's decision to step aside will not have a large impact on the rest of the field.

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