RICHMOND — Nate Vintinner is only 15, but he’s already a wily veteran when it comes to skipping across floating lobster crates.

WATERVILLE — Main Street wasn’t entirely mainstream Saturday during the 43rd annual Waterville Intown Arts Festival.

One of the most influential Maine political figures you’ve likely never heard of soon will tie the knot with the woman who will soon be the most powerful politician in the state.

Former Gov. Angus King’s U.S. Senate campaign has attracted the support of powerful national donors and political players, including some of the country’s most prominent corporate lobbyists, the head of the nation’s largest construction firm, and a corporate chieftain who once testified before Congress that smoking did not cause cancer.

The appeal of the state’s choice of Maine Natural Gas to bring a natural gas pipeline to Augusta and possibly the Kennebec Valley is scheduled for Aug. 14-15 at the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services.

WASHINGTON — Stubbornly close and deeply divisive, the presidential race throttles into its last 100 days as an enormous clash over economic vision, with the outcome likely to come down to fall debates, final unemployment numbers and fierce efforts to mobilize voters. It may seem like an election for the whole nation, but only about eight states will decide who wins the White House.

After losing the race for governor and both houses of the Legislature two years ago, the pressure is on to win at the polls this fall. Party leaders say they are confident, in part because of hard lessons learned in 2010 and in part because Gov. Paul LePage and Republicans have mobilized the Democratic base.

But there are some signs that the state’s largest political party may be struggling to bounce back.