Good morning from Augusta. It’s June 1 and the June 12 primaries are closing in with ad battles heating up on Maine radio and TV stations. It’s hard to catch all of the ads, so we figured that we would put just about all of the new ones in one place — and in context.
In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, Attorney General Janet Mills fired back at attorney Adam Cote, seen by many as an ascendant candidate in that field. On the Republican side, businessman Shawn Moody is defending himself from attacks from former Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhewand Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason.
Mills’ hit on Cote came after his earlier hit on her and prompted a questionable statement from Cote on his time as a Republican. This feud began when Cote released an ad after the state convention last month saying Mills was “wrong to join Gov. [Paul] LePage in refusing to strengthen water protections” in a vague reference to a March open letter to Mills from progressives and Indian tribes criticizing her positions in water rights cases.
Mills hit back this week with a new ad that highlights her background before saying Cote is leveling “false attacks” (“false is a stretch, more like “spun”) and saying that he was a registered Republican for years.
The County is pleased to feature content from our sister company, Bangor Daily News. To read the rest of “Ad wars in Maine governor’s primary races are anything but civil,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Michael Shepherd, please follow this link to the BDN online.
