PolitickerME interview with David Bright - David Bright

Not only was David Bright bounced from the Maine State Democratic Committee, but from the executive committee as well.

The conservative discussion board As Maine Goes broke this tidbit yesterday, when Bright provided a statement to AMG Editor Scott Fish by request. Bright then referred others to this statement.

Bright was removed from these committees at last week’s meeting because, according to him, he was a supporter of Herb Hoffman, who was an independent candidate for U.S. Senate up until yesterday when the Maine Supreme Court ruled that enough of his signatures were invalid to remove him from the ballot.

Committee members justified his ousting, he said, because he did not support Democratic candidate Tom Allen, and by being on the committee he’d be privy to confidential information, something he denies.

In his statement, Bright wrote:

“Yup, voted off the island, because I helped a personal friend, Herb Hoffman, get on the November ballot. Problem is, Herb isn’t a Democrat, but a former Democrat who now is not only running as an Independent, but is running as an Independent for U.S. Senate. Here in Maine, the race for President is actually taking a back seat to the U.S. Senate race ever since Tom Allen decided to cash in his assured re-election to the House of Representatives in order to get into a high-stakes game where the winning hand earns a six-year term in the U.S. Senate. Allen has been backed, since well before he won his primary, by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) – a Washington DC group dedicated solely to electing Democrats to the U.S. Senate.”

The caused an angry e-mail from state committee member Ed Lachowicz of Augusta, upset that Bright didn’t give the exclusive to the Democratic blog Turn Maine Blue.

The e-mail thread between the two was posted on Turn Maine Blue (warning: explicit language used). In it, Lachowicz prefaces by explaining that he respected Bright, and only would have helped vote him off the state committee because he in fact advised Hoffman.

Bright responded to Lachowicz: “I don’t follow that site every day, and don't know much about it except that it's primarily a conservative site. The simple fact is that Scott Fish -- who's a neighbor and who signed Herb's petition at the Dixmont Town Meeting-- asked me to write something.”

Lachowicz responded: “There's no "primarily" about it. They ban Democrats unless they're good cannon fodder. You just contributed to a site that removes people based on who they support for a candidate.”

UPDATE: Lachowicz has written a post on Turn Maine Blue. While he is upset that a private communication was made public, he explains and apologizes for it.