FAQ

Since I’m in the public eye, I get asked lots of questions – some honest and straightforward, others seeking to cast me in a negative light. Here are my candid answers to all of these questions.

1. Why did you run for governor?

I ran for governor because I believed, and still believe today, that Maine can work. I love this state and care deeply about its future, and I thought that my range of experience and expertise, coupled with my willingness to work towards bipartisan solutions, could help make Maine work again for all of us.

I have spent a lifetime as a successful businessman, public official and lawyer.  I am politically skilled and an experienced manager and entrepreneur.  I have changed government policies, reshaped programs, pared budgets and zeroed out programs that don’t work.

I wanted to put my skills, experience and independence to work for Maine.  This is why I wanted to be elected Maine’s Governor, and why I am still staying involved today.

2. Why are you an Independent?

I spent many years as a Democrat and a shorter time as a Republican, but I feel most comfortable  as an Independent.

As I traveled our state during the 2010 campaign, I heard one conviction repeated over and over and again: The same partisan politics that got us into our mess will never get us out of it. I am convinced that real change will only come if Maine and our country are led by people who can move beyond the tired rivalries that have left our major parties beholden to narrow interest groups and starved for new ideas.

Maine people and our friends and neighbors across America are tired of slogans, empty promises, and hyper-partisan bickering.  This is why I am Independent, why I’ve launched OneMaine, and why I support groups like No Labels and Americans Elect.

5. Are you from Maine?

I was born and raised in Bangor. My family has lived in Maine for 130 years, since the 1880s.  Dad was from Old Town, and my mother was from Bangor.

My grandfather, my mother’s father, came to America at the age of 12 – alone, with no family and unable to speak English. He began his life in America as a peddler, walking between Bangor and Calais and selling notions, needles and thread to homes along what is now Route 9, the “Airline.”  He later married, and all three of his daughters graduated from college. His children and grandchildren have achieved things that he only could dream of, and any success I have achieved is due in large measure to the values that my parents learned from theirs and then passed along to me and to my brothers.

6. You lived and worked outside of Maine for many years; what were you doing?

I went to work for Senator Edmond Muskie while I was in college and remained on his staff for more than six years.  He was my mentor.  When I was working for Ed Muskie, I was working for Maine every day – both on state matters and helping to write the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and other laws important to Maine.

I attended law school while I was working for Senator Muskie, which is where I met my wife, Melanie. We planned to return to Maine after we finished law school. But Melanie (along with several other women lawyers) wasn’t offered a job by any of the Portland law firms. This was in 1974, and the Portland firms weren’t very interested in hiring women lawyers . . . especially if her husband also was a lawyer.  So we took jobs in New York.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed me to serve as Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget.  I was the top White House official in the energy, environment and natural resources areas, once again working for Maine by engineering the first big government investments in clean energy technologies and beefing up the enforcement of our environmental laws.  At the President’s request, I helped negotiate a settlement to the Maine Indian Land Claims case.

I went on to build the leading national law firm that specialized in environmental and land use law and major infrastructure projects. I worked for the public’s interest helping states, counties and cities – on major projects like airports, highways, and waste cleanups – make public investments that created jobs.

I also started several successful businesses and served on the boards of directors of several public and private corporations.

7. When did you return to Maine?

I’ve always been a Mainer, whether I’ve lived here or not, and, like most Mainers who leave to find work elsewhere, I yearned for the day when I could return home for good.  That opportunity finally came in 1999, when Melanie, by now a medical doctor, was accepted to do residency training at Maine Medical Center and I was about to merge my law firm into a larger, international firm that would permit me to live where I wanted to live, in Maine!

I was a legal resident of Maine and paid Maine income tax through 1973, and I started paying Maine income taxes again in 2000 after I returned home.  I have paid property taxes in Maine since 1992.

8. Didn’t you also live in China for a while after you came back to Maine?

Yes, I did.  In 2006 my new law firm asked me to organize and open the firm’s first office in China.  There were several reasons behind this request: I had started three previous law offices, each of which had become very successful businesses; I had a lot of international experience; I was a senior partner; and I understood politics, which is important in China.

I thought that the opportunity to spend a few years in a country with the world’s fastest growing economy was one that no one should pass up, so Melanie and I decided to do it.  I organized the office, hired all of the personnel and developed the business.  The office largely represents Chinese companies investing in the United States and elsewhere outside China.

Living in China gave me a fresh perspective on the world and especially on Maine’s place in it, on what we need to do in Maine to become competitive in the world’s new economic order.

During the time I was living in China, I remained a Maine resident, paying my taxes and returning home eight to ten times a year. In addition, of course, I followed what was going on in Maine every day by reading Maine newspapers and blogs.  And during this period – affected, I am sure, by the growth and confidence that I saw all around me in China – I became more and more worried about Maine, more and more convinced that our state government was broken in fundamental ways.  I promised myself that I would figure out a way, when my China assignment was over, to help Maine change course.

9. You still work for a Washington law firm. Doesn’t that make you a Washington lawyer?

I gave up my partnership in the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as of December 31, 2009, and from that date forward I have been an employee – a senior counsel – of the firm.

The term “Washington lawyer” usually conjures up images of a high-powered lobbyist using influence to get something for a special interest.  That’s a far cry from what I have done in my career!

At Cutler & Stanfield LLP, I built one of the largest environmental and land use law firms in the country, with offices in Washington and Denver.  That firm merged with the Akin Gump firm in 2000.  Our clients were mostly states, counties, cities and citizens’ groups, and my work took me all over the United States and to foreign countries, as well.

Because we were usually hired to work on big investment and public works projects, I spent a lot of time in local politics.  For every hour I spent in court or in public hearings, I probably spent 10 hours out in the community, meeting with local leaders and citizens groups, working to build consensus and help local communities create jobs.

10. You live in a big house in Cape Elizabeth. How can you understand the rest of Maine?

I do live in Cape Elizabeth. Melanie and I built our house to be a place where a large and extended family could gather, and as an investment in Maine.

I understand “the rest of Maine” because I grew up in “the rest of Maine.” I was born and raised in Bangor. My family has lived in Maine for 130 years.

My mother and father were the children of immigrants who came to this country – to Bangor and Old Town – in search of freedom and a better life. Like my parents and my grandparents, I have worked hard all my life, and, like them, I have given back to Maine in kind and in measure that reflects an unyielding and long-standing commitment to the public good.

I worked all the way through college and law school, and I have been a successful businessman, entrepreneur and lawyer.  My success comes from businesses that I have started and worked hard at making successful.

12. What kind of business experience do you have?

A law firm, just like any professional services firm, is a business, and I have built and led three successful law offices.  In 1988, my partner Jeff Stanfield and I left the firm where we worked and walked down the street to start our own firm. Like any owners of a new business, we suddenly were responsible for the rent, for making payroll and for generating revenues. Through a lot of hard work, we grew our firm into the second largest environmental and land use firm in the country, and eventually merged it into a much larger firm, Akin Gump.

But I have done more than that.

I was part of a small group that in 1988 bought the United Electric Co., a Texas manufacturer of air conditioning components.  I served on the board of directors for many years, until we sold the company to a much larger firm.

I was a business advisor and lawyer for Skanska USA, the American subsidiary of one of the world’s largest construction companies, as the U.S. business was built from an annual turnover of about $30 million in 1980 to more than $3 billion in 1995.  I later became the first American (and only the second non-Swede) elected to the board of directors of the parent company Skanska AB, where I served for four years.

And I helped to finance and to create the first of the Thornburg Investment Company mutual funds in 1981.  I maintained a financial interest in the management of the funds for about 15 years, and I have served on the board of trustees of the Thornburg mutual funds for nearly 30 years.

Everything I have achieved in business has come from working very hard and from understanding the importance of competitive advantage and investing in – in my case in a particular law firm specialty, environmental and land use law related to major infrastructure projects, that was in high demand around the country and that my colleagues and I could provide better than anyone else. And I succeeded as an entrepreneur and businessman by intelligent investing and risk-taking.

13. What about your family — your wife and kids?

My wife Melanie is originally from Minneapolis, MN.  We met in law school.  Melanie was an antitrust lawyer for many years and a high-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice . . . before abandoning law practice to become a doctor.  She started medical school at George Washington University when she was 45, and she now is a psychiatrist who focuses on treating children and adolescents.

Abby, 30, is a graduate of Brown University and is now attending medical school at the University of Chicago.  Zack is 28, graduated from Amherst College and is studying psychology and neuroscience at Columbia University.  Katherine, who became a member of our family about in 2004, is 24, a graduate of McGill University in Montreal and is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia.

14. Where did you go to school?

I attended Bangor public schools until the 10th grade, when my parents sent me to Deerfield Academy to finish high school. I graduated from Harvard College and earned my law degree from Georgetown University.

15. Were you a lobbyist?

I was never a “Washington lobbyist” in the way that term is usually used to describe someone who earns a living trying to influence members of Congress on pending legislation. That has never been the focus of my legal career.

I built the second-largest environmental and land use law firm in America, largely representing public jurisdictions (states, counties and cities) in efforts to build big, job-creating infrastructure projects (e.g., airports and highways) or to resolve complicated environmental cleanup and permitting problems such as the cleanup of the West Valley, NY nuclear reprocessing facility.

I registered as a lobbyist four times during a period spanning more than two decades — three times at Cutler & Stanfield, the firm I founded, and once at Akin Gump, the firm with which I have been associated since Cutler & Stanfield and Akin Gump merged in 2000.

Both firms were extremely cautious in complying with lobbyist registration requirements, which apply to any person or firm having any contact whatsoever with members or staff of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. In order to be prudent and safe, both firms generally named in their registration statements every lawyer who was on the client team and who might possibly have even incidental contact with members or staff.

My best recollections of my firm’s activities in the four matters are as follows:

1. For many years during the 1990’s, Cutler & Stanfield represented the City of Bridgeton (MO) in litigation opposing the expansion of Lambert Field, the St. Louis airport. Partners and associates of Cutler & Stanfield met with members of Congress from Missouri and other states in order to explain the City’s position on the project. I was the leader of the Cutler & Stanfield team representing the City of Bridgeton, and I may have participated in some of these informational meetings.

2. Also throughout the 1990’s, Cutler & Stanfield represented the City of Burbank (CA) in the City’s successful litigation against the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority regarding a proposed expansion of the Burbank Airport. Partners and associates of Cutler & Stanfield met from time to time with members of Congress from California and other states in order to explain the City’s position on the controversial project. I was a member of the Cutler & Stanfield team representing the City of Burbank, and I recall occasional telephone conversations to provide information about the litigation to Representative Howard Berman (D-CA) and other members whose districts either included or abutted the Airport.

3. At Cutler & Stanfield, I represented the Lehigh Northampton (PA) Airport Authority. The firm registered as a lobbying representative of the Authority in order to enable the firm’s lawyers to brief members of Congress on the airport’s expansion plans. I did not participate in those meetings.

4. During the 2003-2008 period, Akin Gump represented the New York State Energy Research/Development Authority (NYSERDA) in efforts to force the federal government to clean up nuclear waste from the West Valley Spent Fuel Reprocessing Plant. Ultimately, Akin Gump represented NYSERDA in a lawsuit filed against the U.S. government. For a period of time, I headed the Akin Gump team on the NYSERDA case, and I recall meeting with then-Representative Tom Reynolds (R-NY) and his staff on one or two occasions to brief them on the status of the matter. Rep. Reynolds had urged NYSERDA to be more aggressive in its efforts.

16. Were you a lawyer or lobbyist for oil companies and did you represent a Chinese oil company?

No.

I was not involved in a 2005 attempt by the China National Overseas Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to purchase Union Oil Company of California, better known as Unocal and now part of Chevron. Other lawyers at Akin Gump represented CNOOC in 2005, and I was working on other matters at the time, including a major case in Spain. The CNOOC-Unocal deal collapsed after members of Congress expressed concerns over the purchase by a Chinese company of a company that owned oil and gas resources in the United States. (Most of Unocal’s oil and gas assets were located in Asia, which is what attracted the Chinese, but a relatively small amount — less than 1% of total U.S. production — was located In the United States.)

Commenting a few years later, well after the deal fell through, I said in an interview that “had CNOOC come to us earlier… [it] would have made the deal much easier to get approved.” I went on to say, in several speeches and interviews in the U.S. and in China, that if CNOOC had sought Akin Gump’s advice before structuring the transaction, Akin Gump likely would have advised the Chinese to make the purchase in association with a U.S. partner that would have acquired the U.S. assets, leaving the Asian assets to CNOOC.

The only oil company or oil services company that I have ever represented in my career as a lawyer was Bridas, an Argentine company that completed a major transaction in 2010 involving the creation of a South American joint venture with CNOOC.