SANFORD — Maine Senate Majority Leader Jon Courtney, now in the running for the 1st Congressional District, touted what he called his party’s track record of working across the aisle to keep conversations going even when the parties disagreed on the issues.

“Sometimes by talking, or listening to someone’s point of view,  you come up with a solution,” Courtney said.

That’s a prescription he would take with him to Washington, if he’s successful and wins the GOP primary nod for the 1st Congressional District June 12, and then goes on to beat out incumbent Democrat Chellie Pingree in the Nov. 2 election.

Courtney, 45, officially kicked off his campaign Thursday, starting with an 8:15 a.m. speech surrounded by supporters in Central Park in downtown Sanford before making his way to Biddeford and a stop at a National Day of Prayer event in Portland, among other campaign appearances.

York County Commissioner David Bowles, a former state legislator, introduced Courtney, who became the Senate Majority Leader when the Republicans took the majority in the Legislature two years ago.

Bowles said it was high time Sanford sent another resident to Congress ”“ it has been 90 years since Louis Goodall, son of textile baron Thomas Goodall, served in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Bowles took a swipe at Pingree, holding up a blank piece of paper and asking Courtney supporters what she has done since she was elected to Congress.

Courtney first mulled a run against Pingree last fall and said he’d make a decision by Thanksgiving. That date came and went with no announcement. Then this spring, within a couple of days of Sen. Olympia Snowe’s bombshell announcement she wouldn’t be seeking another Senate term, Courtney said he would be in the running for the 1st District.

“I know the challenges of running a small business, paying for health care, filling the gas tank and keeping the house warm, said Courtney. “I know where I’ve come from.”

He talked about GOP accomplishments in the legislature, including his party’s successful bill that will soon allow Mainers to purchase health insurance across state lines, of which he has long been a proponent.

“Imagine if you could Google and purchase health insurance from your living room,” he said.

He pointed out that with bipartisan support, the state passed a tax cut and said as a result, 70,000 low income Mainers were removed from the tax rolls, among other accomplishments.

He took a couple of potshots aimed squarely at Pingree, saying, “I can’t be discouraged by running against a billionaire,” and criticized her for her stance opposing the Keystone pipeline from Canada to the U.S.

“We must look at all forms of energy,” he said.

And, in referring to an “unfriendly newspaper owner,” Courtney also took note of Pingree’s husband, Donald Sussman, who  recently became 75 percent owner of the Maine Today newspapers, which publishes the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal, Waterville Sentinel and others.

“We have been promised hope and change and what we have is no hope and the change is for the worst,” he said of the Obama administration.

Courtney said the country must have a strong national defense, but that troops must be deployed as a last resort.

“We need to get our troops home from Afghanistan,” he said.

 Courtney didn’t mention his primary opponent, Patrick Calder, a Portland resident raised in Eastport who is employed as first engineer on a cruise ship. Courtney said Friday his decision not to mention his opponent should not be seen as a signal that he assumes he will win the primary.

 — Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, Ext. 327 or [email protected].