BANGOR, Maine — A local state Senate race that broke records for outside spending two years ago is again the target of aggressive ad buys by partisan groups technically not affiliated with the candidates.
As of Wednesday, spending to re-elect one-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Geoff Gratwick far outpaced third-party spending on behalf of his challenger, Republican Cary Weston. A more-than $104,000 television ad buy over the weekend by the Maine Democratic State Committee represents the bulk of that advantage.
Overall, more than $205,000 has been spent on the District 9 race by outside groups, according to Maine Ethics Commission data which show only about $5,800 of that was spent on Weston’s behalf. That means groups backing Gratwick are outspending their opponents by more than 34 to 1. District 9 includes Bangor and Hermon.
With the contest between Weston and Gratwick seen as a key to determining which party will control the Maine Senate for the next two years, heavy spending by Democratic and Republican party groups can be expected between now and Election Day, Nov. 4.
In 2012, the contest for the seat easily broke records for being the most expensive Maine Senate race in history at more than $450,000. It ended with Gratwick defeating one-term Republican Sen. Nichi Farnham by 498 votes, 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent, excluding blank ballots.
As was the case in 2012, Gratwick is running as a publicly financed Maine Clean Election Act candidate, meaning that his campaign is limited in how much it can spend. However, that does not preclude outside groups from spending on his behalf.
Weston is running a privately financed campaign.
Campaigning in District 9 for the most part had been positive, according to Weston, until over the weekend when Democrats launched a television ad against Weston that criticized him for using his own firm, Sutherland Weston Communications, to produce campaign materials for his election bid.
“You’ve heard about Cary Weston paying himself to run for state Senate, making a profit by running for office,” opens the Democrats’ recent advertisement, according to a recording of it provided by the Maine Republican Party. “Now we learn that on the Bangor City Council, Cary Weston voted to give thousands of taxpayer dollars to organizations that hired his company.”
The ad shifts to interviews with what it says are Bangor residents, including one who says, “It just seems sneaky.”
Weston told the Bangor Daily News on Wednesday that he’s disappointed that the campaign between the two former Bangor City Council colleagues has gone negative. He said his campaign is 100 percent transparent and is reporting all payments to his communications firm.
“Until now we’ve stayed pretty positive,” Weston said. “I don’t have $100,000 to combat this.”
Weston responded by producing a video, which is posted on his campaign website, in which he says nothing but flashes a series of cards that claim Democrats have spent more than $116,000 against him.
Maine Democratic Party Chairman Ben Grant said Wednesday that Bangor voters should know how Weston is running his campaign.
“It’s a really important issue for the voters of Bangor to know about,” Grant said. “The question isn’t whether it’s legal; it’s whether it’s ethical. Voters need to be able to trust that he’s doing what’s right for them.”
Paul Lavin, assistant director of the Maine Ethics Commission, said Wednesday that traditionally financed candidates can hire anyone they want to do their campaign work, including companies they own, as long as they disclose all expenditures and guard against anything that could be considered an in-kind contribution.
“What they need to be careful of is whether they’re getting any kind of in-kind contribution by way of a discount,” Lavin said, adding that candidates in the past have paid their own companies for services and, in some cases, family members and spouses.
Weston speculated that the expenditure by the Democrats is a sign that they think Gratwick, who did not respond to calls or emails from the BDN seeking comment, is vulnerable. Grant said the race is looking close.
“We think Geoff’s ahead by a little bit,” Grant said. “That’s as much as I’ll say. It’s a competitive race, just like it was last time around. Geoff’s got a strong record that’s in line with the issues of the people of Bangor.”
Asked why outside spending in the race so far is so much less than it was in 2012, Grant said part of the reason is that Gratwick is now an incumbent and doesn’t have to be re-introduced to voters. Much of the spending in the 2012 race happened in the final days of the campaign. Grant would not comment on whether his party plans more spending.
David Sorensen, spokesman for the Maine Republican Party, said the GOP and other “outside groups” have spent approximately $5,800 to support Weston or oppose Gratwick.
“This is one of the most deplorable ads we have ever seen,” Sorensen said.
The Ethics Commission data show that the Maine Democratic State Committee was the biggest spender in the race with more than $133,000, most of it for the recent television advertisement. A political action committee called the Committee to Rebuild Maine’s Middle Class has spent more than $60,000 on Gratwick’s behalf, including a $49,000 expenditure last week. It wasn’t clear what the $49,000 was spent on, though a report that covers several candidates lists large expenditures on television, radio and online advertisements.
