Five Things to Know about Chellie

1. Chellie comes from a close-knit middle-class family, is the mother of three grown children and is a grandmother.
2. Chellie is a successful entrepreneur and small business owner who understands the importance of creating and sustaining jobs in Maine.
3. Chellie has shown a lifelong commitment to environmental protection.
4. Chellie has already achieved real healthcare reform of national importance.
5. As the Maine Senate majority leader and president and CEO of Common Cause, Chellie earned a reputation for taking on tough fights -- and winning -- through principled negotiations, working with colleagues and the community, and saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done -- even when it's hard to do and isn't politically popular.

Supporter profiles

My campaign has received financial support from nearly 5,000 people (as of March 31, 2008) -- for which I am very grateful! Meet some of the people who've made a contribution:

"The biggest thing for me is that she is an absolutely straight shooter."
--Hope Graf, Topsham

Hope Graf was born in 1925 in Middletown, Connecticut, and came to Maine to attend Colby College, where she graduated in 1949. After college she became a high school English teacher. "I have never given to a political campaign until this," she said. "When I saw Chellie at the Highlands [in Topsham], I said to myself 'O.K., if I'm ever going to do it for anyone, she's the one.'

"Every time I've heard her speak, every time I've read something she's written, I can see that she is absolutely straightforward. She is so disinclined to play around with the political powers when she believes in something. Her sense of decency and purpose are impressive."

Hope gave Chellie $50 when she saw her at the Highlands and followed up with another $50 contribution a few months later.

"Talking to Chellie is like talking to your neighbor--you get a straightforward opinion that isn't hedged."
--Stephen Ward, Newcastle

Steve served for 21 years as Maine's Public Advocate and got to know Chellie when she was in the State Senate. "She is easy to work with as a colleague. Very grounded and down to earth--that's a quality that I admire.

"I was a strong supporter of Chellie's U.S. Senate run in 2002, and I remember being with her the week after 9/11 at a campaign event in Walpole. Everyone was shaken, as you can imagine, but Chellie was very clear about not going along with an attack against Iraq. I was impressed with her level-headedness and judgment."

Steve says he also once ended up on a plane with Chellie coming back from Washington. "I'll never forget that trip," he said, "because I had to borrow $10 from Chellie to pay for my parking."

In addition to doing some door-to-door canvassing for Chellie in Newcastle, Steve made one $50 contribution and two $200 contributions.

"The more I read about her the more I was inspired to do something."
--Heather Deese, Union

Heather Deese and her husband Brendan Riordan from Union had a house party where they raised money for Chellie's campaign. Heather, 32, is a graduate student studying oceanography and a mother of two. It was the first time she hosted a house party for a political candidate. "I heard about Chellie and was impressed by her achievements and I am excited about the prospect of extending our Democratic congressional influence in Washington.

"She seems to have an unusual amount of integrity and is very straightforward about the issues she really believes in. And when she decides to go to bat for something she doesn't pull any punches."

"Every time I hear her present her point of view, I find myself nodding my head."
--Rozanna Patane, York Harbor

Sixty-one-year-old Rozanna Patane grew up in Biddeford. She worked in investment banking in Chicago and then as an executive at Digital before returning to Maine, where she is a financial planner and investment advisor. She met up with Chellie at a dinner in Wells. "I like Chellie's wonderful experience but more importantly is the courage that she showed in standing up for the Maine Rx program while in the legislature. She is also right on target on every issue that I care about.

"And thank goodness we finally have a chance to send a really good woman to Maine who is a Democrat."

Rozanna has contributed three times to Chellie's campaign, giving $100 twice and $50 another time.

Join these and other supporters -- contribute today!

Endorsements

Teamsters Local 340
National Women's Political Caucus
United Food and Commercial Workers
Women's Campaign Forum
EMILY's List
21st Century Democrats
Feminist Majority PAC
Transport Workers Union
Women's Political Committee
Air Line Pilots Association
The United Automobile Workers of America (UAW)
League of Conservation Voters
League of Young Voters PAC
Friends of the Earth Action
Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the Planned Parenthood Federal PAC
The Portsmouth Herald
The Courier Gazette
Maine AFL-CIO
Maine Council of Senior Citizens
Human Rights Campaign
Democracy for America (DFA)

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Harold Pachios, Cape Elizabeth
Michael Herz and Kate Josephs, Damariscotta
Clerk of the House Millie MacFarland, Augusta
Bjorn Claeson, Bangor
Representative Ted Koffman, Bar Harbor
Lucinda Ziesing, Camden
Russell DeJong, MD, Belgrade
Representative Paulette Beaudoin, Biddeford
Thomas Dean, Blue Hill
Eleanor Kinney, Bremen
Earl Sherwood, Brewer
Darcy Halvorsen, South Portland
Honorable Marie Laverriere-Boucher, Biddeford
Karin Anderson, Portland
Congressman Rush Holt, New Jersey
Jacob and Terry Gerritsen, Camden
Alison Smith, Portland

Why I am running for Congress

The 2008 election is likely to be the most important one in our lifetime.

So much is at stake. We must bring truth and transparency to Washington. We must reclaim our country now--by ending the war in Iraq, by strengthening the middle class that has been so weakened under the Bush Administration, and by restoring accountability to government. We must fix our unfair health care system, protect good jobs and retirement, regain the respect of the international community, and work together with other nations to combat global warming, protect the environment, and achieve energy independence. In Congress, I will always have the voices of the people of Maine in my mind and will fight to change what is going on in Washington.

Those who have worked with me and those whom I've represented as a state senator always knew that they could count on me to take the toughest of stands, to tell the truth, and to bring about change. I will always listen carefully to the voices of Maine, speak my mind, and not go home until the work is done.

It will take a lot of hard work to put our nation back on track after the long war in Iraq that has killed or wounded so many of our brave young soldiers, cost billions, and made us less secure in the world. There is work to be done, together, to help strengthen the middle class that is stretched thin by high energy costs, skyrocketing health care costs, ballooning interest rates, increasing college tuitions, and declining retirement funds.

Whether serving as North Haven planning board and school board member, starting a small business and meeting a payroll, leading the Democratic caucus in the Maine Senate, or running the reform group Common Cause, I have always had the same commitment to believe in a big vision, to work hard, and to act with practical purpose and principle.

I encourage you to join me.  Together, we can -- and will -- make a difference.

How I got here

Family and Community

North Haven has been my home for more than 30 years. I've raised my three children--Hannah, Cecily, and Asa--here. I've worked at many jobs and started several businesses here, including running a small farm. I created jobs for local people when I owned and managed North Island Yarns and North Island Designs. My current business is Nebo Lodge, an inn and restaurant on North Haven, which I own and run with several business partners.

I have been actively engaged in three decades of work for change. This has ranged from serving the 350
year-round residents of my island home on the North Haven school board to leading more than 300,000 members and supporters across the nation as the president and CEO of Common Cause. Though the size of my constituency has changed over the years, my commitment and my values have remained firm: Work hard, speak the truth, find common sense solutions to complex problems--and work for justice every day.

My work in the Maine state senate

In 1992, I was elected to the Maine State Senate, representing Knox County. I loved my work in the state senate, and served for eight years (the maximum allowed under term limits), the last four years as senate majority leader. I am proud of my wonderful daughter Hannah who was elected to the state legislature in 2002--as a "Clean Elections" candidate. Today she serves as the majority leader of the House and is great at her job!

In the legislature, I stood firm for social and economic justice, and never backed down from taking on powerful adversaries--most notably the pharmaceutical lobby. In my last term, I sponsored one of the nation's first prescription drug pricing bills, "Maine Rx." I also sponsored the successful "Parents as Scholars" program, a national model for welfare reform, and I led efforts to protect Maine's environment. We were leaders in corporate accountability and protecting workers. I stood up and fought for equal pay and protecting a woman's right to choose. Always mindful of Maine's need for economic development, I was chair of the Economic Growth Council and was proud of the work we did during the years I was there.

Family

My mother grew up on the family farm in Minnesota. Years later, when I was a full time farmer, my mom would spend a month with us each year, teaching me all she knew. In a Norwegian/American family, hard work is a given, and my mother never stopped.

I was the youngest child, and my mom went back to work while I was at home. She was a nurse and, even though she worked long hours, she still cooked everything from scratch. Dad was hardworking, smart, and loved numbers, from the thousands of figures he pored over during the day, to his winning gin rummy scores at night.

My dad was a lifelong Republican. As a teenager, I was a staunch opponent of the war in Vietnam, and my dad was not at all fond of my war-protesting, anti-authoritarian ways. However, as the years passed, my father would come to visit us in Maine, helping me with the bookkeeping at my various small businesses and playing with his grandkids.

When I ran for the State Senate in 1992, the year before he died, he and my mom wrote me a check for $50. I was touched to see his barely legible signature--the only contribution he ever gave to a Democrat.