LD 1750: A study in how special interests get their way in the Maine legislature

by Naomi Schalit | May 26, 2018 | Ethics

Photo by: AlexiusHoratius [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons LD 1750: A study in how special interests get their way in the Maine legislature The industrial wind lobby was not happy. Its plans to keep building hundreds of wind turbines in rural Maine were...

Pine Tree Watch releases second edition of online tool to research potential conflicts of interest

by Pine Tree Watch | November 6, 2017 | Ethics, Top Story

Pine Tree Watch releases second edition of online tool to research potential conflicts of interest AUGUSTA — They are bus drivers, fishermen, lawyers and cooks. The members of the 128th Maine Legislature — a “citizen legislature” in the truest definition of the term...

Ethics Commission fines leading Republican senator $9K for campaign finance violations

by Joshua F. Moore | August 30, 2017 | Elections, Ethics

Ethics Commission fines leading Republican senator $9K for campaign finance violations The Maine Ethics Commission imposed a $9,000 fine Wednesday on the second-highest ranking Republican in the Maine Senate, calling his political committees’ late filings, missing...

Portland primary election challenges lead to proposed changes in campaign law

by Naomi Schalit | July 20, 2016 | Elections, Ethics, Money

AUGUSTA — The Maine Ethics Commission fined losing Senate candidate Rep. Diane Russell $500 on Wednesday for failing to disclose her contribution to her Senate campaign of a valuable email list, closing the books on a series of ethics complaints generated by the...

Complaint alleges Rep. Russell’s PAC was “money mill” for her

by Naomi Schalit | June 6, 2016 | Elections, Ethics, Money

AUGUSTA — A Portland resident has requested an Ethics Commission investigation into whether a PAC controlled by Democratic state legislator and Senate candidate Diane Russell made “fraudulent” filings, among other allegations. Michael Hiltz asked the commission to...

Portland legislator paid self from leadership PAC founded to support other candidates

by Naomi Schalit | March 9, 2016 | Ethics, Money

AUGUSTA — A PAC established and controlled by prominent Portland state Rep. Diane Russell, whose mission is to “help support Democrats in winning seats in the Maine House,” instead paid her almost 20 percent of its total expenditures for “online organizing” and spent...