SACO — York County Republican Chairman Jim Booth declined to comment this morning on an email allegedly sent to key area Republicans that contained derogatory remarks about openly gay state Rep. Justin Chenette, including referring to him as “Little Justine.”

In a telephone interview this morning, Booth neither confirmed nor denied sending the email. He said that he planned to call Justin later this morning, and would not comment on the matter until after the two of them talked.

Chenette, a Saco Democrat, is the District 15 state representative, covering part of Saco. He is currently running unopposed for the Senate District 31 Senate seat. Chenette is also employed by the Journal Tribune as a digital advertising executive.

His former Senate race opponent, Republican William Gombar of Old Orchard Beach, dropped out of the running last week. The deadline for the Republican Party to find a replacement candidate is 5 p.m. Monday.

In 2012, at age 21, Chenette became the nation’s youngest openly gay legislator when he began his first of two terms in the State House.

Chenette said Thursday night that a constituent shared with him a screenshot of an email that was allegedly sent to key area Republicans.

The screenshot does not have an email address attached to it, but appears to be signed off by Booth.

The email, addressed to “Fellow Republicans,” states, “Currently, our old friend Little Justine Chenette is running unopposed! We need someone to step forward by July 25th 5:00 p.m.. There is a lot of HATE for the Democratic nominee. But, we have no one as yet to take Chenette on.”

The email urges anyone interested in “taking on Little Justine” to talk to Booth.

“This is the kind of politics we must reject. Maine voters overwhelming chose equality, love, and acceptance over hate,” said Chenette in an email statement. “I hope every Republican denounces the actions of one of its leaders. Diversity should be seen as a strength not a weakness. As someone who has a family of Republicans, I’m disappointed in the York County Republican Chair. This is not Maine values.”

Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett called the email “truly outrageous” this morning.

“This kind of bigotry has no place in our politics,” Bartlett said.

Bartlett added that it was sad that so much of politics has focused on divisiveness instead of moving the state forward, and that it reflected the divisiveness that’s occurring in national politics.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].