Side-by-side political offices maintain harmony in Belfast

BELFAST, Maine — The Republicans are on the left and the Democrats are on the right.
That’s the way it is in downtown Belfast, where the two parties have their county field offices side-by-side on Main Street. In an election season where the parties are as ideologically polarized as ever, the two headquarters’ proximity to each other has triggered more than one double-take and spurred numerous impromptu photo shoots by townspeople and tourists alike.
“We’ve had a very respectful relationship,” said Shirley Smith of Liberty, a member of the Waldo County and Maine Republican committees, as workers set up a luncheon in honor of volunteers Saturday.
“We kind of have to, working right next to each other,” said Cheryl Parkman of Palermo, chairwoman of the county Republican committee.
Next door, a handful of volunteers for the Democrats worked through phone lists, reminding voters that Tuesday is Election Day and urging them to vote for local Democrats.
“There have been other years we’ve been next to each other,” said Betty Johnson, a longtime Democratic operative at the county and state levels. “It’s not that big of a deal, but it has been getting the attention of a lot of people.”
Because both parties value visibility in Waldo County’s hub, and Belfast’s downtown is compact, being close comes with the territory. The two offices have been side-by-side before but are more commonly a few storefronts apart. One year, according to a Republican volunteer, a die-hard Democrat lived in the office above the GOP headquarters on Main Street. Above the typical flood of Republican campaign material in the storefront were liberal slogans in the windows of the apartment. Today, the two offices are festooned with their candidates’ names, and opposing placards on the sidewalk stand less than 20 feet apart.
Johnson said the Democrats opened their office in June, about a month before the Republicans opened theirs. Parkman said one of the first things she did when the GOP settled in was to visit her Democratic neighbors.
“Everyone seems to love the fact that we’re right next to each other,” said Parkman.
Folks in both offices said there have been no conflicts — well, almost none. The allocation of parking spaces has been a challenge since another downtown business recently shuffled them around. Therein is the only situation that has the two parties fighting for elbowroom.
“Someone is in my parking space right now,” said Johnson. “I don’t know if it’s someone from the Republican office or not, but I couldn’t park where I should be.”