After 4 years away, Pingree pines for Maine

BART JANSEN Washington D.C. Correspondent
Portland Press Herald

February 10, 2007
Final, Front, page A1

Chellie Pingree, a former Maine Senate majority leader, is eager to return to remote North Haven after four tumultuous years as president of the advocacy group Common Cause.

The post offered the opportunity to reform campaign and election law nationwide amid the supposed glamour of Washington, Pingree said, but she prefers breathing salt air with fishermen to the stifling atmosphere of back rooms.

''The simple answer is that my heart is totally in Maine,'' Pingree said. ''I find that a lot of people here just spend too much time in a room with no air.''

She may yet return. She is considering running for Congress so she can help change policy rather than merely influence it.

''I think this is an unprecedented time both in the problems of the democracy and the issues that we're trying to solve,'' Pingree said. ''While (Common Cause) has been one really great way to work on these problems, I love being inside the process.''

Her last day is today. She arrived during a period of transition, after the group helped win approval in 2002 of the most significant campaign-finance reform since the Watergate era.

Despite the success, the group's membership was dwindling and had an average age of 71. The annual budget had shrunk to $8.4 million in 2001.

Pingree invigorated the group by tackling a variety of issues and shifting attention from the federal landscape to her more familiar state terrain. Election reform, public campaign funding, media ownership and Internet access are some of the subjects the group pursued.

Along the way, membership grew from 200,000 to 300,000 and the annual budget grew to about $12 million.

''We are grateful to Chellie for the vision and leadership she has provided Common Cause for the last four years,'' said Richard North Patterson, the group's board chairman.

''Her leadership has played an important role in key victories at the state and federal levels.''

The Internet has allowed the group to contact members - and solicit contributions - more efficiently.

On Wednesday, for example, the group's Web site urged members to oppose Bush's proposed $145 million budget cut for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

''Young people frankly don't open their direct mail any more, but they might get something forwarded from one of their friends or hear about us and join our e-mail list,'' she said.

Pingree's political background raised flags when she took over the presidency of Common Cause in March 2003. The group is perceived as socially liberal and she succeeded another Democrat, former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger.

At Common Cause, Pingree said she strived to combat any impression of partisanship.

She recalled two years ago shuttling between California and Ohio legislatures as each state considered programs to change the way legislative districts are mapped. Ohio Republicans feared she would help Democrats and California Democrats thought she was favoring Republicans.

In the process, she became friends with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, who continues to push for reform.

''Chellie Pingree has been a champion for redistricting reform here in California and across the country,'' Schwarzenegger said. ''Her tireless efforts to make elections more competitive have helped to strengthen our democracy.''

A Minnesota native, Pingree moved to North Haven decades ago and built up a business of kits for knitting sweaters.

Pingree served eight years in the state Legislature, the final four as majority leader, before term limits pushed her out of office in 2000. She then ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2002 against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Pingree became head of Common Cause in March 2003, but visited Maine on weekends. With friends, she bought a North Haven inn.

She is returning for a possible campaign to succeed U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, who is considering challenging Collins.

''Obviously there's still just speculation that there's going to be a chance to run,'' Pingree said.

Her interest in returning to politics mingles with her desire to return to Maine. A picture of her in the state Senate chamber hangs on the wall of her Common Cause office next to a sun-splashed picture of a lobsterman working the water.

''I was term-limited from the Legislature, but I'm one of those geeks who loves how you get this done and how you work with people on the other side of the aisle,'' Pingree said.

In her wake, her daughter Hannah has become state House majority leader. Hannah Pingree had planned to attend law school after working on her mother's U.S. Senate campaign, but her mother's advice resonates today for both.

''What I said to her was: Would you rather be a lawyer or make these laws,'' Pingree said.

Washington D.C. Correspondent Bart Jansen can be contacted at (202) 488-1119 or at:

bjansen@pressherald.co