WATERVILLE â The Maine Republican Party is taking a Democratic state Senate candidate to task for playing a popular online game, calling her participation in âWorld of Warcraftâ her âonline fantasy world.â
State Republicans have created a website and released a corresponding mailer detailing the online gaming history of District 25 candidate Colleen Lachowicz of Waterville.
The mailer also accuses her of making âcrude, vicious and violent commentsâ on a liberal blogging website.
A Maine Democratic Party spokeswoman responded by criticizing Lachowiczâs opponent, incumbent Republican Sen. Thomas Martin of Benton, citing more than $13,000 in fines levied against his construction company by the federal government since 2005.
Lachowicz â running for the seat representing Waterville, Winslow, Albion, Benton, Clinton, Detroit, Pittsfield and Unity Township â is a high-level player of âWorld of Warcraft,â an online role-playing game that takes place in Azeroth, a fantasy world, the Republican website says.Â
The Republican site links to Lachowiczâs gamer profile, showing her character, Santiaga, and attributes a long list of blog posts on liberal website DailyKos.com to Lachowicz.
âI think itâs weird that theyâre attacking me in this way instead of talking about the issues,â Lachowicz said in an interview at a supporterâs home Thursday evening. She said she hadnât seen the site, but didnât dispute any of the findings. She issued a statement to Huffington Post and other news outlets.
âInstead of talking about what theyâre doing for Maine people, theyâre making fun of me for playing video games,â she said in the statement. âDid you know that more people over the age of 50 play video games than under the age of 18? As a gamer, Iâm in good company with folks like Jodie Foster, Vin Diesel, Mike Myers and Robin Williams. Maybe itâs the Republican Party that is out of touch.â
âTheyâre attacking her for playing a game 12 million people play,â said Lizzy Reinholt, a spokeswoman for the Maine Democratic Party. âThis has nothing to do with policy.â
The Republican website also posted Lachowiczâs blog posts on the liberal website.
In one criticism of Republican tax policy, Lachowicz wrote: âI may have to go and hunt downâ conservative activist Grover Norquist âand drown HIM in my bathtub.â
Some of the posts sharply criticize Republican Gov. Paul LePage. One says she doesnât want LePage âanywhere near herâ and said she âwas in his office once and felt like I had to shower after I left.â
Another criticizes him for campaigning for governor âon being a French orphan,â referring to his stories of being homeless in his youth in Lewiston.
âOf course, Iâve never known any 11 year olds that can support themselves except through drug dealing or sex work, and I work with kids,â she writes. âOdd that we never heard any of this when he was the mayor of Waterville.â
Lachowicz said the posts were made on a blog with a group of like-minded acquaintances.
âPeople who know me know the policies that my opponent and others have put into place are the reason I decided to run for public office,â she said. âI think these things were taken out of context.â
Dan Demeritt, a political consultant who was LePageâs first communications director, said that although the blog comments were fair game politically, the Republican effort to dig into Lachowiczâs online history crossed a line and wonât turn many voters against her.
âShe owns the comments. The smart thing for her would be to apologize if they offended anyone and maybe an explanation that they were made in an intimate circle of friends,â he said. âBut she doesnât need to apologize for the gaming. Thereâs something a little creepy about digging into her habits.â
David Sorensen, spokesman for the Maine Republican Party, wouldnât talk publicly about how the party researched Lachowiczâs online history. But he defended the partyâs pursuit of it, saying her gaming and blogging histories are intertwined.
âI think that definitely speaks to her work ethic, her maturity and her ability to represent the people of Senate District 25 in an effective, competent manner,â he said. âSheâs not your average gamer â sheâs a candidate for state Senate in Maine. I think the voters expect better.â
But Lachowiczâs gamer profile suggests sheâs not obsessed with the game. It says she last logged into it in mid-September. Before then, she said she last played in January, but she has had her character for about four years. Her character is a level 85 orc, the gameâs highest level, the profile says.
Martin, Lachowitzâs opponent, said he thought his party Thursday was hitting back against ads and mailers that Democrats issued against Martin and other sitting Republican senators earlier this year.
âThe Democrats have made it very well-known that this is the seat they want to keep,â Martin said. âIt looks like (Republicans) are fighting fire with fire.â
âCould I do without it? Yes, I could do without it,â he added.
As the GOPâs site gained attention throughout Thursday â the story was picked up by national news outlets such as Politico, the Huffington Post and NBCNews.com â Reinholt, the Maine Democratic Partyâs spokeswoman, sent an email citing violations levied by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration against Martinâs business, Nitram Excavation and General Contractors, Inc., based in Benton.
Records show that OSHA has levied fines totaling more than $13,000 since 2005. The largest fines, which were settled and totaled just more than $10,000, came in May 2011, for repeatedly failing to meet requirements for excavation and for protective systems.
Martin said the incident stemmed from a hole in the ground made by his company that didnât have a trench box or ladder inside it. He said heâs always had a good relationship with OSHA representatives.
âItâs an associated risk in industry,â Martin said. âItâs something we certainly never would condone.â
Sorensen defended Martin. âOSHA violations are common for contracting businesses,â he said. âIf these were really a big deal, the Democrats would have made the press aware of them before the Lachowicz mailer. Itâs a transparent move of retaliation.â
Andrew Ian Dodge, a former Republican from Harpswell whoâs running for U.S. Senate as an independent, criticized the party for its focus on Lachowiczâs gaming, rather than her blog posts, which he said merit scrutiny.
He said itâs another example of something heâs long criticized the party for: not encouraging people outside the partyâs base to engage in the party.
âJust attack the comments; donât bring (âWorld of Warcraftâ) into it,â Dodge said. âTheyâre assuming that nobody in the GOP is a âWorld of Warcraftâ playerâ or plays other similar online role-playing games. The gameâs developer, Blizzard Entertainment, says âWorld of Warcraftâ had 9.1 million players as of August.
Chris Dixon, a registered Republican from Lewiston and state coordinator for the Maine Tenth Amendment Center, a group advocating for limited government, agreed with Dodge, saying the partyâs website should have focused on Lachowiczâs blog comments.
âThereâs a lot of really bad stuff in there that nobody seeking public office should be saying â I donât care what party youâre in,â Dixon said. âYou want to be in the Legislature representing people of all backgrounds? You canât have that.â
But the Republican website, which prominently displays a large picture of Lachowiczâs âWorld of Warcraftâ character, is âone big joke,â Dixon said. âItâs just going to be bad publicity for the (Republican) Party.â
Staff Writer Michael Shepherd can be contacted at 621-5632 or at:
mshepherd@mainetoday.com
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