DENVER -- There was one delegate who didn’t come to Denver.

David Bright, a delegate for Barack Obama from Dixmont, said that with all the rain Maine has been hit with, he had to stay home to take care of his farm.

He said he is working on a number of construction projects that need to get done, and they affect the long-term productivity of his business.

“Since a number of these projects involve open ground, we must get them completed and reseeded by the end of August if we are to get a catch of new grass before fall weather sets in,” Bright said in an e-mail.

Jim Varner of Old Town was upgraded from an alternate slot to take his place.

Bright said that conventions are no longer meaningful, and are not productive.

“There’s billions of dollars being spent there that could go to real campaigning and real campaigns,” Bright said in an e-mail.

Bright has been a longtime party activist. He was recently ousted from the Democratic state and executive committees for supporting independent U.S. Senate candidate Herb Hoffman, who is fighting to stay on the November ballot.