By Alanna Durkin:
Less than four months before Maine voters head to the polls, Independent candidate Eliot Cutler faces fundraising challenges, an incumbent Republican governor with fiercely loyal supporters and Democrats determined not to repeat the mistakes that cost them the 2010 election.
But Cutler, a 67-year-old from Cape Elizabeth, says he’s confident that his campaign will gain momentum this fall the way it did when he nearly beat Gov. Paul LePage for the Blaine House four years ago.
“If you look back at Maine’s three-way races … you find that independents tend to come on really strong in the end,” said Cutler, who lost to LePage by just 10,000 votes. “And our expectation is that it’s going to happen this time.”
Cutler hopes to gain support from voters concerned about the direction of the state but uneasy about returning to Democratic rule under Mike Michaud. As in 2010, Cutler said he’s focused on “treating voters like adults” by not only releasing policy proposals, but telling voters how he plans to pay for them.
But political observers say that time is running out for Cutler to overcome his biggest hurdle in the race: convincing anti-LePage voters that he is the candidate who can beat the Republican governor.
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Thanks to American Third Party Report for the link.