Pingree Files Petition Signatures

Portland, Maine (3/13/08)
Petitions collected from over 100 towns containing over 3,300 signatures, 1,500 filed.

Late yesterday afternoon, Chellie Pingree filed the petition signatures necessary to put her on the ballot in the First District Congressional primary this June.

"It's a great feeling," Pingree said, "to finally make it official."

Pingree is traveling to all 125 towns in the First District, and the grassroots support she's been experiencing on the campaign trail was evident in the number of signatures her supporters gathered for her. Over 150 petitions from 101 towns containing more than 3,300 signatures were collected over the last few weeks. Pingree submitted just about 1,500 signatures to the Secretary of State--the maximum allowed. One thousand signatures are required to put Pingree on the ballot.

"I'm honored and deeply grateful for all the hard work my supporters put in collecting these signatures," Pingree said, "and it only strengthens my commitment to stand up and fight for the people of Maine if I'm fortunate enough to be elected to Congress."

"We have a lot of hard work ahead of us if we're going to tackle the problems we're facing" she said. "From rising prices and a weak economy to responsibly ending the war in Iraq and facing the climate crisis I know that fixing these problems isn't going to be easy. But we know what the solutions are--we just have to demonstrate the political will to stand up to the special interests who will stand in our way."

Pingree has earned a reputation as someone who is willing to stand up and tell the truth, even when it isn't popular. She got her start in public service in her hometown of North Haven. "I ran for tax assessor because no one else wanted to do it," she said. From there I went on to serve on the planning board and eventually the school board, which I still think is the hardest job in politics."

As Majority Leader in the Maine Senate, Pingree introduced and fought to pass landmark legislation to lower the price of prescription drugs. She then ran for the US Senate against Susan Collins in 2002, opposing the war in Iraq at a time when it wasn't a politically popular. For four years Pingree served as national President of Common Cause, where she fought for ethics and campaign finance reform and against media consolidation.

Contact: Willy Ritch (O) 773-0155 (M) 841-8400

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