Tag Archives: Eloise Vitelli

Dropout candidates reshape Maine legislative campaign calculus

Parties have until July 23 to find replacements for 31 legislative dropouts in campaigns that could change the delicate balance of power in Augusta.

Republicans send reinforcements for LePage’s campaign against Medicaid expansion

Good morning from Augusta, where a group of Republicans is expected to express concern about the wording of Maine’s 2017 Medicaid expansion referendum on Tuesday, showing that it’s not going to go unanswered in the public domain. Former Maine Republican Party Chairman Rick Bennett, Rep. Heather Sirocki, R-Scarborough, and other elected officials will be headlining […]

Town GOP chair quits after LePage-backed insurgent wins primary

Good morning from Augusta, where we still don’t know who the Republican nominee for Maine’s 1st Congressional District is and a different divide has led to the resignation of a party official. Tyler Washburn, chairman of town Republicans in Bowdoin, said late Wednesday that he stepped down after conservative insurgent Guy Lebida of Bowdoin beat Republican state Sen. Linda […]

LePage endorses conservative challengers in Maine Senate primaries

Good morning from Augusta, where today’s Daily Brief will function as a digest of Gov. Paul LePage’s greatest hits over the past two days. The Republican governor made a first-time move on Thursday, when he endorsed two conservatives challenging Republican legislators in Tuesday’s Maine Senate primaries — Guy Lebida of Bowdoin and Calais City Councilor Billy Howard. Lebida […]

Maine Democrats to kick off Senate campaigns on Monday

You know the even-year legislative session is near when the State House news conferences begin and the campaigning revs up. That’s happening Monday, when the Maine Senate Democratic Campaign Committee will formally kick off its coordinated bid to win back the upper chamber ahead of legislators coming back to Augusta on Wednesday. But make no mistake, the […]

Vitelli sworn in as eighth woman in 126th Senate

Just before 9 a.m. Thursday, Eloise Vitelli of Arrowsic became Sen. Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, when she was sworn in to the 126th Legislature by Gov. Paul LePage. Vitelli becomes is eighth woman in the 25-member Maine Senate, all of whom are Democrats. She defeated Republican Paula Benoit of Phippsburg in a special election Tuesday, 4,631-4,169. […]