Printer-friendly version Reader Comments

By JOSIE HUANG, Staff Writer November 3, 2007

John Anton feels fortunate for the wealth of free advertising he has received in his first Portland City Council run.

The League of Young Voters has spent nearly $3,000 on mailings and staffing phone banks on his behalf, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed with the city last month.

The Portland Growth Coalition, a political action committee formed by members of Portland's business community, also is endorsing Anton and paid more than $800 to have stickers emblazoned with his name stuck on newspapers, finance reports showed.

Anton is among four candidates seeking two at-large council seats. His opponents include the two incumbents -- James Cloutier and Jill Duson -- and Mark Reilly, who has previously run for the council.

In past local races, candidates could count on canvassing and donations from the political arms of unions and trade organizations, with $250 being the allowable maximum. But this year's race for two at-large seats on the City Council has highlighted a new and controversial kind of political player willing to throw thousands of dollars into the ring by orchestrating advertising campaigns independent of the candidates they support.

It appears to be a new phenomenon. The Portland Community Chamber formed the Portland Growth Coalition just last year. The League of Young Voters -- part of a national organization aimed at encouraging young people's involvement in politics -- has grown in name recognition and funding since its founding in 2004. All three of the council candidates the league endorsed last year won.

"This political action is really just a natural outgrowth of the political interest out there," said Chris O'Neil, a spokesman for the Portland Growth Coalition, which endorsed Anton because he seemed more business-friendly than his rivals.

The involvement of these groups in local politics has already drawn protests. Supporters of Anton's two Democratic rivals have questioned the source of the league's money.

The city Democratic Party chair is challenging the motives behind a $10,000 donation to the league by developer Kevin Mahaney, whose proposal to develop the Maine State Pier is backed by Anton, a Green Independent Party enrollee. City Council races are nonpartisan, but party affiliations can be important.

PACs have come under fire from federal and state policymakers worried about special interest groups trying to circumvent campaign finance laws.

Even Anton has ambivalent feelings about PACs. While he appreciates that PACs are running campaigns in his support, he refuses to take personal contributions from them.

"It was a conscious decision," said Anton, who leads the four- person field in fundraising, with about $11,600. "With a PAC, you don't know who is in it."

But it's clear to even their critics that PACs that have entered local races have raised the stakes. Cloutier said he decided to pay for inserts in a couple of publications this year -- he didn't do any in his last re-election bid -- and put out more signs.

"I'm just keeping up with the need to have a presence," said Cloutier. He raised about $10,200 -- including about $6,000 that he loaned himself. The carpenters' union PAC donated $200.

Fellow Democratic incumbent Jill Duson said she's more anxious than ever about her chances of being re-elected.

"I have felt a little nervous as to whether I should have spent the money to do the big mailing the league did for John Anton," Duson said.

The league also endorsed Duson, and included her in a voters guide sent to thousands of households. But the group has not spent money on mailings and phone calls for Duson, as it has for Anton.

City Democratic Party Chair Sive Neilan questioned whether Duson is receiving less support from the league because she backed Olympia's rival for the Maine State Pier contract, Ocean Properties. The league, however, also has campaigned for an...