SCARBOROUGH – Gabrielle Ricaux can’t help but notice the intense focus on Scarborough for this election.
There are television ads, piles of mailers that show up in her mailbox and dozens of political signs at intersections in town.
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“I’ve seen it before, but not to this extent,” Ricaux said after voting at town hall last week. “This year it’s been vicious,” with much of the advertising negative.
Scarborough has emerged as a battleground for control of the Legislature, with outside groups spending big money on races for the state Senate and House. More than twice as much money has been spent this year to influence one Senate race than was spent on all of the House and Senate races in town in 2010.
Senate District 6, which includes part of Scarborough, is up for grabs with the departure of state Sen. Phil Bartlett, a Democrat from Gorham, because of term limits. The Republicans will gain a Senate seat if Ruth Summers of Scarborough can defeat Democrat James Boyle of Gorham.
And in Scarborough’s House districts, two conservative Republican representatives who were elected for the first time in 2010 are seeking re-election, challenged by a political newcomer and a former district attorney.
Despite the influx of cash, voters in Scarborough seem relatively unaffected by the attention. They say they are tired of negative ads, wary of outside money influencing local politics and more focused on national races than local ones.
Scarborough has more registered Republicans than Democrats, so it’s something of an anomaly in southern coastal Maine, where Democrats tend to have the edge.
Of the town’s 14,376 registered voters, 4,343 are Democrats and 4,616 are Republicans. There are more than 5,000 unenrolled voters in town.
The race between Summers and Boyle in Senate District 6 ranks second in the state for the amount of money spent by outside groups, with more than $251,000, much of it for negative ads.
Two years ago, with a three-term incumbent running, outside groups spent $1,000 on the district, which covers Gorham, part of Westbrook and most of Scarborough.
Maine’s most targeted House race is in Scarborough, where Democrat Jean-Marie Caterina is challenging Republican state Rep. Heather Sirocki to represent District 128. More than $55,000 in outside money has been spent on that race.
Two years ago, $7,400 was spent on the House District 128 race between Sirocki and Democrat Brian Dell’Olio.
About $2,000 was spent on the House District 127 race in 2010, when Republican Amy Volk beat Democrat Sean Flaherty.
This year, outside groups have spent more than $27,000 on the race between Volk and her Democratic challenger, Paul Aranson.
The negative tone of political ads and mailers that have been distributed is a turnoff to Scarborough voters, who say they are tired of negativity and claims that they don’t believe are true.
Gabrielle Ricaux, who voted with her mother, Yolande Ricaux, said the ads she has seen in Scarborough have “way too much hate and not enough facts.”
Like some other voters in town, Gabrielle Ricaux said the negative ads don’t influence how she will vote.
Lisa Grigsby, a resident who supports Democrats, said as she left the Scarborough Municipal Building, “I’m tired of seeing the ads because I feel like they’re out to get each other.”
She said, “I feel there’s a lot of negativity. Who do you believe?”
Jean O’Brien, an independent voter, said she tries to stay away from political ads altogether because they don’t influence her vote.
“I can’t stand the political back-and-forth,” she said. “It gets pretty cutthroat.”
Hearing ads against a specific candidate prompts Jana Libby, a bartender at Pat’s Pizza, to research the person and find out if the attacks are true.
“You just don’t know who to believe anymore,” she said as she poured drinks for customers. “I’m basically looking for someone to fix this mess.”
Other residents, like Republican Ray White, say they are more focused on the presidential and U.S. Senate races, or on larger political issues.
“Most policies that impact me — the economy, foreign affairs — are at the national level,” he said, so he’s not “fired up” by the state races.
For Ben Wildes, a registered independent and a member of the Black Point Hose Company, a town referendum on the purchase of a new ladder truck for his fire company is one of the most important issues this fall.
He said he has seen some of the ads and mailers for state-level races and isn’t impressed.
“I would rather hear what a candidate has done, not what the other candidate hasn’t done,” he said.
The number of mailers that arrive in Scarborough residents’ mailboxes each week is high, said Robert Foley, who is retired and has lived in Scarborough for more than 60 years.
“I just threw away a bunch of them,” he said as he walked out of the post office. “I always look at them to get the gist of what they’re saying. All of them are half-truths and very slanted.”
Foley doesn’t like the influence of outside money on local races because it is “really destroying the political process,” he said.
“It’s outsiders that are trying to tip the election one way or another,” he said. “They have so much financial power, they can overrun a local candidate. They’re not really dealing with the issues that affect local people.”
Gary Coffin, a resident who has already voted, said he’s not surprised by the amount of outside money being spent on Scarborough’s races, but he does find it disappointing. “I’ve seen more division than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime,” he said.
Lauraine Foley, who also has voted, said her vote isn’t influenced by political ads and mailers, but she’s tired of them anyway.
She said, “I’ll be glad when it’s over and we get back to normal.
Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be contacted at 791-6315 or at:
ggraham@mainetoday.com
Twitter: grahamgillian
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