The Maine Republican Party released video footage Wednesday of a 2014 candidates’ forum that it says shows Democrat congressional candidate Emily Cain flip-flopping on tax cuts passed in the 2011 state budget.

Cain, who is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, has called the 2011 state budget one of her biggest legislative accomplishments and an example of bipartisanship.

The political skirmish comes a week before the candidates face off in the first of two scheduled debates. The first is on Oct. 19 in Presque Isle in a debate hosted by WAGM-TV; and again on Oct. 26 in a debate on WCSH and WLBZ, the NBC affiliates in Portland and Bangor.

Maine Republican Executive Director Jason Savage said Wednesday in a news release that Cain’s stance on the 2011 tax cuts conflicts with remarks she made in the 2014 video, in which she criticizes the tax cuts contained in the 2011 budget. Her campaign was quick to dispute the criticism.

“It’s been clear from the start that I disagreed with the tax cuts for the rich but was proud of the budget” overall, Cain said in an email.

The first draft of the budget as presented by Republicans in 2011 was “all help for the rich” and wasn’t the right approach, but the final budget was a good example of bipartisan work, Cain said in the email.

“The original version of the budget was focused on tax cuts for the rich,” Cain said Wednesday. “I’ve never made any secret of the fact that I opposed the original budget, then or now. The work that I’m proud of and the record I’m running on is the bipartisan agreement that was reached.”

Cain is in a close race with Poliquin, who as of June 30 led Cain by about $1 million in fundraising, though she could be closing the gap. Cain’s campaign Wednesday released preliminary fundraising figures for the third quarter of 2016 showing that she has raised more than $2.6 million to date. A spokesman for Poliquin said he has raised more than $3 million this election cycle.

Wednesday’s video release which the Republican Party called a “major political announcement,” includes footage of Cain in a 2014 candidates’ forum saying she “hated” the tax cuts in the 2011 budget and that it was “the worst budget I’d ever seen in my 10 years there.”

“This video is concrete proof of Emily Cain’s dishonesty,” Savage said in Wednesday’s release. “Emily Cain should apologize and admit how she has been deliberately deceiving Maine voters.”

At the time the budget passed, Cain told the Portland Press Herald, “My caucus hates these tax cuts. It hates them.” Cain clarified, however, that the statement referred to Democrats in general and that as House minority leader, it was her job to find consensus during a difficult budget year.

LePage approved the budget, although he originally had called for more drastic tax cuts. Other Republican leaders at the time praised the budget, and while some Democrats were unhappy with cuts to social programs, it ultimately passed by wide margins in the House and the Senate.

Rachel Ohm can be contacted at 612-2368 or at:

rohm@centralmaine.com Twitter: @rachel_ohm

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