And I say “the party field” is set, because non-party candidates have until June 1st to submit their paperwork to appear on the November election ballot.  But let’s be serious, the only name you can realistically expect to be added to this list is Eliot Cutler, so besides him, your field of candidates is set in stone, ladies and gentlemen.

As of today’s filing deadline for signatures to get on the ballot, Republicans Steve Abbott, Bill Beardsley, Matt Jacobson, Paul LePage, Peter Mills, Les Otten, and Bruce Poliquin had submitted their paperwork and officially qualified.  Democrats Pat McGowan, Libby Mitchell, Steve Rowe, John Richardson, and Rosa Scarcelli also qualified.  All in all, we now have twelve candidates on the ballot.  I would expect one more – Cutler – to file before June – given the extra time he will be given.

Lost in all the buzz surrounding the deadline was the fact that Green Independent candidate Lynne Williams was unable to gain the necessary signatures to get on the ballot.  This means that for the first time since 1990 – that is twenty years ladies and gentlemen – there will not be a Green Party candidate on the ballot in November.

The failure of the Green Party to produce a candidate after having made so much headway in this state over the last two decades represents a bitter disappointment that may spell the ultimate doom of Maine’s strongest third party.  In the last several election cycles, Maine’s Green Party has enjoyed success and made gains that have been nationally significant, easily establishing itself as the Pine Tree State’s most relevant third party.

Consider:

• In 1994, Green Party candidate Jonathan Carter received 32,695 votes – 6.39% of ballots cast
• In 1998, Green Party candidate Pat LaMarche received 28,722 votes – 6.82% of ballots cast
• In 2002, Green Party candidate Jonathan Carter received 46,903 votes – 9.28% of ballots cast
• In 2006, Green Party candidate Pat LaMarche received 52,150 votes – 9.60% of ballots cast

In each election, the Green Party received a higher percentage of the raw vote than in the previous election, slowly building legitimacy and experience.

Maine’s political culture was the better for it.  Green Party activists syphoning off a significant portion of the vote forces the comparatively moderate Democratic Party in Maine to take the left flank seriously and not simply take it for granted.  That same division on the political left helps Republicans be perhaps more competitive than they otherwise would be in a pure two party state.  Maine always kind of reminded me of a mini version the United Kingdom in many ways – with the Greens taking on the role of the Liberal-Democrats.

For her part, Williams blamed the structure of Maine’s political system for her inability to gain signatures:

A major problem in my campaign’s signature-gathering effort was physically locating the small number of Maine voters who are enrolled in the party. While Democrats and Republicans have several hundred thousand party members from whom to solicit a signature, the Green Independent Party has fewer than 30,000 active voters.

In the Bangor Daily News, Williams expanded on that theme further:

“The Democrats need to collect one half of 1 percent of their registered voters,” she said. “We need to collect 6 percent of our registered voters.”

While this is of course true, it was not a barrier for either Carter or LaMarche, and Williams has been running for a very long time now – she filed February 20th of 2009.  Getting 2,000 signatures over the course of the last year is certainly not a cake walk, but should be more than possible given the right organization, priorities and management of a campaign.

The Green Party should be safe from a complete demise, however, so long as 10,000 of their registered voters in the 2010 election – a turnout of 33%, which should be more than possible.  None the less, it is a major setback for the strongest Green Party organ in the United States, and one which will take a great deal of time to rebuild from.

But the lack of a top tier Green candidate has long lasting reverberations, especially in November.  Now the Democrats – particularly if they nominate somebody viewed as credible with the anti-establishment, environmental left (particularly Scarcelli or McGowan, in my opinion) – will have an easier time unifying the left.  It is true, Democrats will still face a daunting task with the presence of Eliot Cutler who has considerable credibility on left – but it will still be easier than dealing with both him and a Green Party challenger.  This may allow the Democratic nominee a certain amount of leeway to run to the center in an attempt to outflank the Republican nominee and Cutler.

Back on topic.

Today’s filing deadline put to rest a number of rumors about several candidates.  For a few weeks now, I had been hearing that some of the candidates were having a very difficult time collecting signatures, and that some of them were in danger of not qualifying for the ballot.  As the slow drip of candidates submitting their signatures began to roll in, worries increased, rumors swirled and I actually talked to three separate candidates (on both sides of the isle) who – off the record, obviously – told me they were worried they might not make it across the finish line.

The problem for more than one candidate, was the caucuses.  Conventional wisdom told these would be governors that they could collect the bulk of their signatures at the various caucuses around the state.  The reality, however, was quite different.  Complaints of extremely low turnout at many (most?) caucuses and some less than friendly caucus goers who refused to sign petitions dominated conversations, with many candidates having a hard time amassing a significant number of signatories.

Privately, one candidate also bemoaned the fact that of the few people who did go to the caucuses, the ones who actually were engaging with the candidates were the fringe element – rabid, borderline anarchists, extreme members of the Tea Party movement, birthers, truthers, and other conspiracy theorists.  One story told to me recounted an experience with a caucus-goer approaching a candidate, launching into a litany of rants about the Trilateral Commission, Illuminati, and Council on Foreign Relations, when the candidate stopped the person, saying, “look, with all due respect if that is what really concerns you and what you are here to talk about, you’re going to have to find yourself another candidate”.

The story, while amusing, also represents a problem faced by a number of candidates – the very people they need signatures from (the people who showed up to the caucus) are also the energetic fringe who quick frankly represent a brand of politics that none of the candidates subscribe to, and in fact is derided as “unstable, irrational nonsense” by basically all of them.

In the end, however, through some mixture of paying workers to collect signatures across the state, and very aggressive volunteer mobilization, each major candidate (sorry Martin Vachon) was able to collect the requisite signatures, and will be on the June ballot.

Congratulations to all the candidates.