AUGUSTA — With less than five weeks to go before Election Day, both parties are focusing on the money game.
On Thursday, the Maine Republican Party called on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hannah Pingree to condemn the billionaires who contribute to political campaigns.
At the same time, the Maine Democratic Party criticized her Republican opponent, Bobby Charles, for accepting donations to his campaign over the legal limit.
The focus on funds comes as candidates prep for a series of debates and with early voting starting statewide on Monday. Several polls show Pingree ahead of Charles and independent Rick Bennett by a significant margin.
She has also raised the most money, bringing in $4.3 million, compared to Charles at $1.8 million and Bennett at about $927,000.
At GOP headquarters, Party Chairman Jim Deyermond said Pingree makes comments critical of billionaires who donate to political campaigns while also accepting money from them.
“Hannah Pingree is an Augusta insider, a political nepo-baby and a member of the Pingree dynasty,” he said. “Her family and her political party have deep ties and have benefitted immensely from the wealthiest 1% and the liberal billionaire donor class.”
In particular, he called out Pingree’s ties to Donald Sussman, a hedge fund billionaire who was previously married to Pingree’s mother, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree. They were married for about four years, divorcing in 2016.
Deyermond called on Pingree to tell all candidates and organizations who received money from Sussman to return it “or admit that you support billionaire money in politics when it benefits you, your family, your party.”
When asked if Sussman contributed to Pingree’s campaign for governor, Deyermond said “her friends, her family, her associates are all related to that wealth and there is no doubt in anyone’s mind he has helped the family innumerably.”
Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
On the other side, Maine Democrats filed a complaint with the state Ethics Commission saying Charles appears to have accepted more than $25,000 in contributions over the legal limit.
“The Maine Democratic Party is asking the Ethics Commission to immediately investigate these violations, and Bobby Charles must immediately return these illegal donations,” Lauryn Fanguen, party spokeswoman, said in a statement.
In response, Charles’ Campaign Manager Dale Crafts Jr. said the campaign is doing just that.
“Some enthusiastic supporters gave more than the limit, and those dollars are being returned,” he said. “That’s what accountability looks like.”