Brennan Explores 1st District Candidacy

By Kate Bucklin, The Forecaster
URL: http://www.theforecaster.net/story.php?storyid=9302

PORTLAND – Although U.S. Rep. Tom Allen hasn’t said he plans to change jobs, former Democratic state Sen. Michael Brennan announced he is forming a committee to explore running for Congress in 2008.

Two other local politicians, City Councilor Jill Duson and state Sen. Ethan Strimling, said they will wait for Allen to announce he’ll challenge U.S. Sen. Susan Collins before formally announcing interest in Maine’s 1st Congressional District seat.

Brennan, 53, is a former state Senate majority leader. He represented the city from 2002 to 2006 in the Senate and was a state representative from 1992 to 2000. An associate at the Muskie School of Public Service and an adjunct professor at the University of New England, Brennan did not seek re-election to the state Senate last year.

Brennan, who is married and has two sons in college, said he will spend the next few weeks meeting with constituents in the 1st District, which runs from Kittery to Camden, exploring the organizational structure of a campaign and his fundraising options.

“We’re still early on,” Brennan said Friday. “Tom Allen hasn’t formally announced he’s running (against Collins.)”

Mark Sullivan, a spokesman for the congressman, said there has been no decision regarding Allen’s intentions. “Tom has said on many occasions he’s certainly considering running for Senate, but he has not said when that might be,” Sullivan said.

Duson, a former Portland mayor, said Friday she has discussed running for Congress with her family and friends, but “a lot depends on Congressman Allen and what his plans are for 2008.”

“It is not often that we have an open seat and I am honored that folks see me as a viable candidate for Congress,” Duson, a Democrat, said in an e-mail message.

The director of the state Department of Labor’s Bureau of Rehabilitation Services, Duson, 52, is serving her second three-year term on the City Council. She is a member of the influential Community Development Committee.

Duson was Portland’s first black mayor, and if she decides to run, she would be the first African-American to seek a Maine congressional seat. She is up for re-election to the City Council this year.

The at-large councilor is a mother of two and lives in North Deering.

Strimling, 38, has also been mentioned as a possible successor to Allen. A state senator since 2002, the West End resident is executive director of Portland West.

Strimling, who is married without children, said Friday that he is “acutely attuned to our country’s misdirection,” but stopped short of saying he would consider a run for Congress in 2008.

“While I have heard from dozens and dozens of people who have said they will support me if I ever ran for Congress, with Tom having not made any announcement with his decision it would be premature to formally step into the race at this time,” he said.

Allen has represented Maine’s 1st Congressional District since 1996, and was re-elected last year to a sixth term.

Kate Bucklin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or kbucklin@theforecaster.net.