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Michael Cianchette is a Navy reservist who served in Afghanistan. He is in-house counsel to a number of businesses in southern Maine and was a chief counsel to former Gov. Paul LePage.
Is our problem really a lack of political campaigns?
One of the second-order effects of Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ decision that Donald Trump is disqualified from serving as president is the reignition of a longstanding, albeit understated, debate.
Both the Bangor Daily News Editorial Board and Maine House GOP Leader Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham have come out in favor of statewide elections for our constitutional officers.
I think they are both right, and both wrong.
They are spot on in calling for a change. Imagine your less detested candidate — Trump or Joe Biden — wins the White House this November. But, in a very possible scenario, the opposite party takes control of Congress.
If the federal government operated under the current Maine system, we’d probably see even greater dysfunction. Imagine if the ongoing House probes into Hunter Biden’s behavior were backed by the full power of a Republican Department of Justice? Or a Democratic DOJ trying to work with a Trump administration?
Maine hasn’t yet run into the same partisan morass as Washington, but the structure of our senior state offices are not built to weather it well if it arrives.
So, while a change may be worthwhile, the solution should not be more statewide elections.
The BDN’s argument suggests, in part, that electing the attorney general, state treasurer, and secretary of state would effectively give us a “bullpen” of future candidates for bigger offices, like governor or U.S. senator.
Maybe.
Yet that leaves open the same potential for partisan warfare; an attorney general from one party may actively try to undermine a governor from the other side in order for the former to try to take the latter’s job at the next election.
These fights are not helpful when it comes to responsible, coordinated government. Then-Attorney General Janet Mills had plenty of public fights with Gov. Paul LePage, several of which spilled into the courts. LePage won some, Mills won others.
Regardless of who won, the Maine Constitution declares that we have three branches of government. Millennials will remember them from SchoolHouse Rock; they are executive, legislative, and judicial.
The attorney general — and secretary of state, and state treasurer — are all members of the executive branch. Their job is to execute the laws entrusted to their respective departments. They aren’t lawmakers, although they are presently elected by lawmakers.
But we call the governor the “chief executive” for a reason. It isn’t just tradition. The Maine Constitution says that the “supreme executive power” is “vested in a Governor.”
That is why any reform in how we select constitutional officers should honor these principles outlined in our Constitution. The federal model — the chief executive picks, the legislature confirms — is a better way forward.
An executive branch, led by the holder of the “supreme executive power,” needs the ability to work in unison. The checks-and-balances inherent in our system are between the branches, not among various independently selected executive branch officers.
If we believe that some measure of independence is necessary for the current constitutional offices, have them serve firm terms alongside the governor. If they need to be removed, go through an impeachment process.
Other than elections, the major job of the secretary of state is to manage corporate and government paperwork and issue drivers’ licenses. That job could become elected statewide on a ticket, wearing a “lieutenant governor” hat and provide some continuity if a governor vacates the job.
Finally, if we are looking at real reform, we should remove the ability for Secretary Shenna Bellows — or any single executive official — to make a decision on ballot eligibility. Instead, election oversight should be transitioned into an independent commission overseeing professional staff, similar to the Maine Ethics Commission.
Good government is pretty boring stuff. But I’d rather have a boring, functional government instead of millions in spending for a campaign to elect the state treasurer.
