Augusta, Maine — The Bangor Daily News covered the Maine Democratic Party’s new website on gubernatorial candidate Rick Bennett, Rick’s Receipts, which lays out his long record as a Republican operative and politician.  

As Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said about Bennett:  

“Rick Bennett isn’t an independent voice for Mainers, he’s a Republican in sheep’s clothing. Now that he’s running for governor he wants Mainers to forget that he spent his career working with Paul LePage and opposing Planned Parenthood and MaineCare expansion. Rick Bennett wants Mainers to believe he’s something different — but the receipts tell the real story.”  

The Bangor Daily News also highlights Republicans celebrating Bennett’s candidacy, which comes as no surprise given Bennett’s strong conservative background outlined in Rick’s Receipts.

Bangor Daily News: Why independent Rick Bennett is an early target in Maine’s race for governor

Benjamin Kail, April 24

• Five Democrats and seven Republicans are fighting hard in their uncertain primaries for the chance to replace Gov. Janet Mills, but playmakers on both sides of the aisle are already strategizing around a candidate who isn’t on the ballot until November.

• Republicans are openly saying Bennett’s candidacy may be the only way for their party to win the Blaine House given the state’s blue swing over the past decade.

• Democrats are trying to erode support for him early, launching the website “Rick’s Receipts,” spotlighting his time leading the state party and championing former Gov. Paul LePage and President Donald Trump.

• While Republican candidates press Trump for an endorsement, the Democrats are eager to link their opponents to the president’s contentious policies and a struggling economy.

• But he [David Farmer] said the senator hasn’t “used his voice to stand up to forces that I think have had long term damage to the Republican Party and the country.”

• “Rick Bennett isn’t an independent voice for Mainers, he’s a Republican in sheep’s clothing,” Devon Murphy-Anderson, the Maine Democratic Party’s executive director, said.

• The party’s site targets Bennett’s work with LePage, his opposition to public funding for Planned Parenthood and MaineCare expansion, and his support for Trump, for whom he was a 2nd Congressional District elector before attending the 2017 inauguration.