Posts Tagged ‘Release’

RELEASE: Prominent Democratic Lawmakers Announce Support for Eliot Cutler in Governors’ Race

Monday, June 28th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 28, 2010
CONTACT: TED O’MEARA
207.699.4401
ted@cutler2010.com

PORTLAND, Maine – Two leading Democratic lawmakers, State Senator Dennis Damon of Trenton and State Representative Leila J. Percy of Phippsburg, today announced their support for Independent Eliot Cutler in this year’s race for governor.

“I am supporting Eliot Cutler for one simple reason: He is the most qualified person to lead Maine in the challenging days ahead,” said Damon. “I am impressed with his experience in business and government and his love for our state. Most of all, I have confidence in his bold ideas to get Maine’s economy moving again — lowering our costs and investing in our competitive advantages. As a former coach, I can tell you that Team Maine needs a new kind of leader. We need change and reform, and Eliot will deliver.”

Senator Damon was elected to the Maine Senate in 2002 and is currently serving his fourth term. One of the most highly respected legislators in Augusta, he has served as the Senate Chair of the Marine Resources Committee for four terms and Senate Chair of the Transportation Committee for three terms. A fourth-generation commercial fisherman and former teacher, Damon has made Maine’s economic future his central focus in the Legislature. During his tenure, he shepherded to passage historic legislation to meet Maine’s transportation needs, to preserve working waterfronts and to enact marriage equality.

“I am pleased to join Senator Damon in supporting Eliot Cutler for governor,” said Percy. “Fear, frustration and old answers are blinding us to the greatness that ought to be part of our shared vision for Maine’s future. His leadership is grounded in common sense and focused on Maine’s strengths – our people and our natural resources.

“Eliot will be an effective governor, working with legislators in both parties to rally us all around common goals and creative ideas,” Percy added. “Both lawmakers and citizens want our next governor to be fair-minded and even-tempered. We need a leader who will chart our course without sacrificing the qualities that ensure Maine remains the productive, just and tolerant state we love.”

Representative Percy is a professional entertainer completing her fourth term in the Maine House of Representatives. She has served as House Chair of the Marine Resources Committee for the past three terms and also served on the Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry Committee for one term. She authored legislation to address rising property taxes and has worked tirelessly to preserve Maine’s rural fishing and farming communities. In 2005 her leadership was instrumental in the successful passage of the Working Waterfront Constitutional amendment.

Both Percy and Damon said that they will remain Democrats and will continue working to elect fellow Democrats to the Legislature.

“I am honored to have the support of Senator Damon and Representative Percy, because they understand that the people of our state want their leaders to work together for Maine, regardless of party affiliation,” said Cutler. “Dennis and Leila are showing great political courage by supporting me, and many others are ready to join us in the center. My campaign is the biggest tent is this race. There is no ideological litmus test to join us. All we ask is that you love Maine and are committed to helping us create a new way forward for our state.”

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Sen. Damon 207-667-9629

Rep. Percy 207-449-6219

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RELEASE: Cutler to Open Lewiston/Auburn Office on Wednesday

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 15, 2010
CONTACT: CELESTE VIGER
207.272.8427
celeste@cutler2010.com

Auburn, Maine – Independent candidate for Governor Eliot Cutler will host an Open House at his new Lewiston/Auburn campaign headquarters on Wednesday, June 16th, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. The office is located at 1 Great Falls Plaza, Auburn.

The public is invited to visit the space, meet the candidate and share lunch catered by Simones Hot Dogs. Mayors Dick Gleason of Auburn and Larry Gilbert of Lewiston will participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony at noon.

“Lewiston and Auburn are very important communities for anyone seeking statewide office in Maine,” said Cutler. “I have been pleased by the strong support I have received from people in the Twin Cities, and I hope that opening a campaign headquarters here helps to demonstrate my commitment to the people of this area.”

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RELEASE: Top Chinese Business Leaders to Visit Maine to Explore Export Opportunities for Maine Products

Monday, June 14th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 14, 2010
CONTACT: TED O’MEARA
207.699.4401
ted@cutler2010.com

PORTLAND, Maine – The chairman of the largest and most important Chinese importer of food and the chairman of one of China’s most significant investment funds will lead a delegation of Chinese businessmen on a visit to Maine on Friday. They will explore the potential for substantial purchases of lobster, wild blueberries and other Maine products, and examine investment opportunities in the Maine aquaculture industry.

“With all the great products we have in Maine, we can make trade with China a two-way street,” said Eliot Cutler, Independent candidate for governor, who will be hosting the group in Maine.  “I am confident that having these highly influential Chinese business leaders visit our state will be just the beginning of some important new relationships and opportunities for Maine companies.”

Ning Gaoning, Chairman of the China Overseas Food Corp (COFCO), and Fang Fenglei, chairman of the investment fund Hopu, will be joined by Liu Mengze, President of Ceroilfood, one of COFCO’s most important subsidiaries, and Guy Cui, one of Mr. Fang’s partners in Hopu.

The group is coming to Maine at the invitation of Cutler, who spent two years in China opening the Beijing office for his law firm and developing business opportunities.

“Getting Maine people back to work and growing our economy will depend in part on developing new export opportunities for Maine products,” Cutler said. “China is the fastest growing big economy in the world. It is a market that holds huge potential for Maine, and I want to do everything I can to help Maine companies get a foot in the door.”

Cutler cited Maine lobsters as a good fit for the Chinese market. The Chinese currently import lobsters from Australia and New Zealand, but he said those lobsters can’t begin to compare to Maine’s. “They don’t even have real claws!” Cutler said.

“The lobster industry has been hurting due to historically low prices and high costs.  I have met with fishermen, processors, and leaders of Maine’s lobster industry up and down the coast, and they all have told me that they have to expand into new markets to survive,” Cutler said. “I know that the decision makers who are visiting Maine next week will be impressed by the quality of our lobsters and the network of fisherman, dealers and processors who can deliver live and processed product to them.”

Cutler said the group will go out on Casco Bay Friday morning to haul some traps with a local fisherman and learn about the sustainability of Maine’s lobster harvest. They will also tour Portland Shellfish Company, a local processor that exports to over 20 countries internationally, among them China and Hong Kong, and will meet with other members of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council and other industry representatives.

Later in the day Friday the group will head down east to visit Jasper Wyman & Son wild blueberry operations in Cherryfield and Deblois. Wyman’s is the largest U.S.-owned wild blueberry grower/processor in Maine and has a great interest in expanding into the Chinese market.

The group will end its visit to Maine with a tour of the Maine Halibut Farms, an aquaculture company at the University of Maine’s Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research in Franklin.

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Note:  A detailed schedule with specific information about times, locations, and media opportunities will be forthcoming tomorrow.

Additional background information on the significance of this visit can be obtained from:

Dane Somers
Maine Lobster Promotion Council
207-287-5140
207-749-1407 mobile
Info@lobsterfrommaine.com

Emily Lane
Portland Shellfish
207-799-9290
emily@pshellfish.com

Kim Higgins
Jasper Wyman & Son
207-546-2311
kim@wymans.com

Ted O’Meara
Cutler 2010
P.O. Box 15277
Portland, ME 04112
(207) 699-4401
(207) 653-2392 (cell)
www.cutler2010.com

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RELEASE: Independent Candidate for Governor, Eliot Cutler, Files Required Signatures for Spot on November Ballot

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APRIL 23, 2010
CONTACT: TED O’MEARA
207.699.4401
ted@cutler2010.com

PORTLAND, Maine – Independent candidate Eliot Cutler today become the first announced candidate for Governor to earn a spot on the November ballot by filing more than 4,000 signatures of registered Maine voters with the Secretary of State’s office.

The Cutler campaign filed its signatures more than five weeks ahead of the June 1 deadline for “non-party” candidates. The Secretary of State has accepted the signatures, paving the way for Cutler to face the eventual Democrat and Republican candidates in the General Election. The two parties will choose their nominees on June 8.

“Maine people can now be assured that there will be a strong, experienced, Independent candidate on the ballot this fall,” said campaign manager Ted O’Meara. “Eliot has a bold plan to get Maine working again, and he offers Maine voters a genuine alternative to politics as usual in a year when they are hungry for change and reform.”

Independent, or unenrolled voters, make up 37.5% of all registered voters in Maine, making them the largest single voting bloc in the state. (Democrats make up 32.6% of the Maine electorate, while Republicans represent 26.6%, and Greens have 3.3%, according to the most recent figures from the Secretary of State’s office.) Two out of the last five Maine Governors have been Independents, and this year Massachusetts and Rhode Island also have strong, credible Independent candidates running for governor.

“We are deeply grateful to our many volunteers – Democrats, Republicans, Independents and Greens — from around the state who helped us gather these signatures,” O’Meara said. “Their efforts are just more evidence of the strength of this campaign. “

ABOUT ELIOT

Eliot Cutler was born and raised in Bangor. After college, he worked in Washington, D.C. for Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine, helping to craft the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and other laws important to Maine. He went on to serve as Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science in the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and was the principal White House official for energy matters from 1977 to 1980. At President Carter’s request, he helped negotiate a settlement to the Maine Indian Land Claims.

Following his government service, Eliot founded the law firm of Cutler & Stanfield LLP, which grew to become the second largest environmental law firm in the United States, concentrating on job-creating infrastructure projects such as airports, highways and other major public facilities. After a number of years of working on projects around the country from a base in Washington, Cutler returned to Maine permanently in late 1999, just prior to his law firm’s merger with the international firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

Cutler also has been a highly successful businessman and entrepreneur, helping to start or acquire several businesses and serving on the boards of large and small companies, as well as not-for-profit organizations. He was chairman of the board of visitors of the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine for nearly a decade and helped lead the School to its position as one of the leading graduate schools of public policy in the United States.

Cutler lives in Cape Elizabeth with his wife, Dr. Melanie Stewart Cutler. Their family includes three grown children.

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RELEASE: Cutler Says Republican Use of Paid “Tracker” Means More Politics as Usual from the Parties This Year

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APRIL 7, 2010
CONTACT: TED O’MEARA
207.699.4401
ted@cutler2010.com

RELEASE: CUTLER SAYS REPUBLICAN USE OF PAID “TRACKER” MEANS MORE POLITICS AS USUAL FROM THE PARTIES THIS YEAR

PORTLAND, Maine – Independent candidate for Governor Eliot Cutler has written a letter to Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi and chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), regarding the RGA’s employment of a paid tracker to follow Cutler and other candidates and videotape their remarks. At a recent candidates’ forum, the young woman working for the RGA blatantly misrepresented herself to Cutler when he asked her who she was.

“While I realize that the RGA – or any other group – has every right to stalk candidates with a video camera, I have to confess that I find both the practice and this manner of doing so highly objectionable,” Cutler said. “Its only purpose – starting in March, no less – is to hopefully capture a few seconds of some ‘gotcha’ moment that can be used in a 30-second negative ad this fall.”

Cutler said that he attended a recent candidates’ forum in Skowhegan with Republican and Democratic candidates for governor. Before the candidates starting speaking, he introduced himself to a young woman at his table who told him that she worked at the deli counter in a supermarket in the Portland area and that she just happened to be in Augusta that day and decided go to Skowhegan to hear the candidates speak.

After she began videotaping his remarks, Cutler said he asked one of the other candidates who the woman was and was told that she worked for the RGA. Cutler said that he later learned that this same woman had been making repeated inquiries to his campaign office, saying she wanted to learn more about him and asking where he would be speaking.

In his letter to Barbour, Cutler said if the RGA was going to employ such people, they should at least be honest enough to say who they are and who is paying them when asked a direct question.

“We have a lot to talk about here in Maine, and I hope that this will be a campaign based on the ideas, experience, and vision that each candidate has for turning our state around,” Cutler said in his letter to Barbour. “Your party’s employment of a paid tracker at this early stage of the campaign – especially one who deliberately lies about who she is – unfortunately leads me to conclude that Maine voters are going to be treated this year to more of the same old slash and burn politics that has turned off so many people.”

Cutler also urged the Republican candidates for governor to “repudiate both this juvenile practice and the RGA’s dishonest approach to it.”

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE ORIGINAL LETTER HERE.


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RELEASE: Eliot Cutler Calls Supplemental Budget a “Failure Of Leadership”

Monday, December 21st, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DECEMBER 21, 2009
CONTACT: TED O’MEARA
207.699.4401
ted@cutler2010.com

CUTLER CALLS SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET A “FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP”

PORTLAND, Maine – Independent candidate for Governor Eliot Cutler today called the Governor’s latest supplemental budget a travesty, saying it represents a failure of leadership.

“Instead of facing the music and proposing the kinds of fundamental changes we need to make Maine work again, the Governor’s supplemental budget avoids the tough calls, relies on the most transparent gimmickry and fails the test of leadership,” Cutler said in a blog posted today on his campaign website,www.cutler2010.com.

Cutler renewed his call for a BRAC-type process for reorganizing state government, a proposal that he made in his announcement speech on December 9. The process would be similar to the one that the federal government uses to realign or close military facilities. Cutler said he would chair a special commission that would review all state agencies and expenditures and make recommendations on which should stay and which should go. He then would ask the Legislature to take a simple yes or no vote on the entire package.

Cutler also noted several major and fundamental changes in state government policies that he already has proposed in his campaign that the budget fails to address:

  1. Authorizing charter schools, which would make the state eligible for millions of dollars in federal funds
  2. Merging the community college and university systems
  3. Reducing the number of organizations that have contracts with the Department of Health and Human Services from more than 7,000 to a much smaller and more manageable number
  4. Ending mandatory annual vehicle inspections
  5. Making healthcare more affordable for Maine families and business

Cutler called the Governor to task for relying on “sugar pills”, when the state budget needs what he says is major surgery. He criticized the supplemental budget for passing the buck by delaying payments to cities and towns, making one-time transfers to the General Fund from other special funds, and engaging in a “Shell Game” whereby the state will be “borrowing” $93.5 million from Other Special Revenue Funds on June 30 and then paying it back 24 hours later on July 1..Cutler likened this to someone paying overdue credit card balances with another credit card.

Cutler said he holds out little hope that the Governor and Legislature will deal effectively with the continuing budget shortfalls. “We’ll see what the legislature does with the travesty of a budget that the Governor has turned over to them, but nothing so far suggests that the political parties that got us into this mess are going to get us out of it,” the Independent candidate said.

About Eliot Cutler

Eliot Cutler was born and raised in Bangor. After college, he worked in Washington, D.C. for Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine, helping to craft the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and other laws important to Maine. He went on to serve as Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science in the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and was the principal White House official for energy matters from 1977 to 1980. At President Carter’s request, he helped negotiate a settlement to the Maine Indian Land Claims.

Following his government service, Eliot founded the law firm of Cutler & Stanfield LLP, which grew to become the second largest environmental law firm in the United States, concentrating on job-creating infrastructure projects such as airports, highways and other major public facilities. After a number of years of working on projects around the country from a base in Washington, Cutler returned to Maine permanently in late 1999, just prior to his law firm’s merger with the international firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

Cutler also has been a highly successful businessman and entrepreneur, helping to start or acquire several businesses and serving on the boards of large and small companies, as well as not-for-profit organizations. He was chairman of the board of visitors of the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine for nearly a decade and helped lead the School to its position as one of the leading graduate schools of public policy in the United States.

Cutler lives in Cape Elizabeth with his wife, Dr. Melanie Stewart Cutler. Their family includes three grown children.

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