Dean Scontras and Charlie Summers traded barbs in radio ads Thursday, and a face-to-face debate involving the two Republican congressional candidates got even more heated.
Earlier this week, Scontras began airing a radio advertisement that says Summers voted for a large tax increase during his tenure as a state legislator.
Summers quickly responded with his own radio ad, which defends his record on fiscal issues, and notes that Scontras registered to vote in Maine just two years ago.
That was the backdrop for Thursday's debate between the candidates before the editorial board of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. It featured accusations of flip-flopping and also entered more personal territory.
The two Republicans face off in their party's primary June 10. The winner will face the Democratic nominee in the Nov. 4 general election.
The seat in Congress is currently held by Democratic Rep. Tom Allen, who is stepping down to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
After both candidates laid out their views on several issues, Summers brought up Scontras' radio advertisement, and accused his opponent of trying to distort his record on taxes.
Scontras' radio ad focuses on Summers' vote in favor of a 1991 state budget proposal that raised the sales tax. Summers said Thursday that he and other Republicans agreed to the budget as part of a deal that also reformed Maine's workers' compensation system.
"Dean is very good at giving about a quarter of the story on this," Summers told the newspaper's editorial board. "Did taxes go up because of my vote on the budget? Yes, they did, without question. What he doesn't tell you is that budget also contained an income tax cut, one of the last times that income tax has been cut in the state of Maine, and that those (sales) taxes were in fact temporary taxes."
Scontras fired back, saying, "He said he's cut taxes. He didn't cut taxes."
The two Republicans also went back and forth over abortion. Scontras opposes abortion rights, and Summers favors them. But Scontras accused Summers of giving certain audiences a different message on abortion.
"You said in front of a group the other night that you were against it, you were spiritually against it," Scontras said.
"I have not flip-flopped on abortion, and he knows that," Summers responded. "I've been pro-choice."
On illegal immigration, too, Scontras said that Summers' position has changed. He noted that the Press Herald reported earlier in the campaign that Summers supported giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. "But now he's all of a sudden against a path to citizenship, and he's against amnesty," Scontras said.
"I don't support amnesty," Summers responded. "I think we should enforce the rule of law in this country, and we should prosecute people who are here illegally to the fullest extent of the law."
At one point, Summers criticized Scontras over his lack of political experience. "And if he wants to run for student council president," Summers said, "I think he's well-qualified for that."
Summers also criticized Scontras' background in sales. Scontras worked for many years in sales and marketing in the high-tech industry.
"He has a background in sales, and I think it's served him well," Summers said.
"That's another personal shot," Scontras interjected.
Summers continued, "I think that he's trying to sell people a bill of goods here."
Another contentious exchange involved Scontras' voter registration record. Scontras said he registered to vote in Maine two years ago --two years after moving back to his home state.
"So you were in Maine for two years without registering?" Summers asked.
"That's right, yeah," Scontras replied.
"There's a lot of local elections that you missed, a lot of local issues," Summers said.
"That's the difference here," Scontras replied. "I'm taking ownership of it."
Staff Writer Kevin Wack can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
kwack@pressherald.com
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