Fear, disgust and hope were among the things driving Maine voters to the polls Tuesday.
There were voters who said they were voting for Mike Michaud for governor mostly because they feared another four years of Paul LePage’s leadership, not because they thought Michaud was the best of the three candidates. Then there were the people drawn to the polls to vote for the proposed ban on bear baiting and trapping, spurred to action by a seemingly endless stream of graphic TV commercials showing brutal treatment of bears.
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Yet there was still a sense of hope, with many saying they felt their vote could make a difference on the issues they cared about most. In an informal poll of a couple dozen people at polling places in Portland, South Portland and Falmouth Tuesday, those issues primarily were the governor’s race and bear baiting.
AnnElissa Leveque, a 56-year-old special education teacher from South Portland and an unaffiliated voter, said she was voting for Mike Michaud because Eliot Cutler “doesn’t stand a chance” of beating LePage and because she feels Michaud has more experience in the workings of government.
Leveque arrived at her polling place, the Boys and Girls Club on Broadway in South Portland, at 6:30 a.m. even though the poll didn’t open until 7 a.m.
“I like to be first to vote if I can,” she said. “Most years I’m third.”
Another South Portland voter, musician and music teacher Tom Whitehead, 55, was clear that he was casting a vote for Michaud only because he thought Michaud had the best chance to beat LePage.
“Well, I’m holding my nose and voting for Michaud,” Whitehead said. “Michaud hasn’t impressed me, but I am horrified by LePage. I’d like to see him show more compassion.”
By contrast, some voters who favored LePage were certain about it.
At Falmouth High School, Meg Hurdman, 52 and a registered Republican who works at Thos. Moser furniture in Freeport, said LePage has a better plan to grow Maine’s economy.
“I think he’s trying to create a more business-friendly environment,” Hurdman said. She admires what he’s overcome in his life, including being homeless as a child. “I think he does care deeply about people who are less fortunate.”
In Gardiner, Republican Paul Marsella said LePage needs four more years after being “blocked” by Democrats in his first term.
“It has to be LePage, because he really is the one who’s out to do all the right things,” Marsella said.
The media played a big part, as it often does, in shaping voters’ pre-election mood. Several talked about casting a vote for Michaud because poll after poll has told them Cutler has no chance.
Jaime Parker, 42, trails manager for Portland Trails and a member of the Green Party, said it was “strange to feel like you have to cast a strategic vote.” Still, that’s what he planned to do by voting for Michaud.
“I think Cutler would be more effective than Michaud,” Parker said. “Michaud has built-in enemies and he has people he needs to please.”
While the “Pledge of Allegiance” was recited to students over the loudspeaker system at East End Community School, Parker stood in the hall explaining why he also signed a petition in favor of allowing people to rank their choices for governor. Proponents say it would cut down on times, like this year, where so many voters say they are voting for the candidate they think can win instead of the one they want to win.
“In Maine, where we have such a tradition of having independent and third-party candidates, this makes sense,” said Parker. “The way it’s set up now really favors the two-party system.”
The media also shaped voter moods when it came to the proposal to ban bear baiting and trapping. Several people in Greater Portland who do not hunt and have no connection to hunting said they wanted to vote for the ban because of what they had seen on TV this fall.
Retiree Bonnie O’Brien, 58, of Portland said the bear ads “made me sick.”
But just a few minutes after O’Brien walked in to vote, Paul Ureneck came to the school intent on voting against the ban. Ureneck, 28, works as a mechanic and hunts for deer. He said the proposed ban was his main reason for voting.
“I trust our state biologists and game wardens to make these decisions about how to manage the bear population,” Ureneck said. “We can sit and watch the commercials and pass judgment, but they are the ones who are dealing with it.”
With polls declaring front-runners months in advance and absentee ballots allowing early voting, the idea of deciding who to vote for on Election Day itself seems like a quaint vestige of the past. Yet there were some voters Tuesday whose mood at the polling place was one of last-minute indecision, fueled by a desire to make the best possible choice.
Jeff Holmstrom, 58, a physician, arrived at the Boys and Girls Club in South Portland not knowing who he would vote for in the governor’s race. He had narrowed his choice to two, Michaud and LePage, and said he wanted the best person to improve the economy, bring more jobs to the state, and work to improve health care. He is not registered with a political party. Just steps from the door of a gym lined with voting booths, he still did not know which way he’d swing.
“I guess I’ll know in about 30 seconds, when I write it down,” Holmstrom said.
Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:
Twitter: RayRouthier
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