The battle for control of the Maine Senate is heating up with Democrats launching a nearly $90,000 ad campaign accusing Republican candidates in seven races of wanting to take away women’s access to abortion.

The ads, including a barrage of direct mailers, come days after campaign spending reports revealed Republicans spent $67,000 on digital ads accusing Democrats of driving up property taxes and energy costs.

Democrats are hitting back by highlighting the threat to legal abortion, which has been a potent issue for Democrats since the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization upended the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing the nationwide right to abortion. The party spent $88,767 from Sept. 17-19 on seven Senate races, including $46,000 on direct mailers focused on reproductive rights. The party also launched video ads to highlight Democratic support for public education.

The early spending reveals what each party believes to be the most competitive races and the ones that could alter the balance of power. Democrats, who control both chambers and the Blaine House, currently hold a nine-seat majority in the 35-member Senate. Eight Senate seats do not have an incumbent defending them, four for each party.

Last week, Republicans targeted Democrats in Districts 8 (Orono), 15 (Augusta), 20 (Auburn) and 26 (Windham). In addition to the four races targeted last week by Republicans, Democrats also sent out mailers in three other races: District 11 (Belfast), 13 (Damariscotta) and 14 (Winthrop).

The Democrats’ mailing campaign accuses Republican candidates of seeking to roll back abortion rights and cites the Maine Republican Party’s platform. The platform acknowledges the sanctity of life – “from conception to birth” – opposes use of taxpayer funding for abortions and supports faith-based services aimed at convincing women to carry a pregnancy to term.

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Democratic incumbents were praised in the ads for their support of bills to protect or expand reproductive rights, including by prohibiting municipalities from regulating abortion services; eliminating deductibles, co-pays and other cost-sharing for abortion services; and prohibiting insurance companies from denying malpractice insurance to health care professionals who perform abortions.

The mailers do not mention the two most controversial bills passed by Democrats in the 131st Legislature – expanding access to abortions beyond viability of the fetus if deemed necessary by a physician; and a law that shields health care providers from hostile out-of-state litigation for performing abortions and age-appropriate gender affirming care.

Republican candidate Shannon McDonnell, a 38-year-old Winthrop town councilor who served 15 years in the military, was described in a mailer as “a threat” to women’s reproductive rights. She is challenging incumbent Sen. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, for the District 14 seat.

But McDonnell said she has not taken a position on abortion-related legislation.

“All they did for their verification was (cite) the GOP platform,” McDonnell said. “I don’t have a voting record, so to sit there and target me without having any knowledge of my background or experience – it’s just ironic to put those statements out there, basically saying I’m a threat.”

McDonnell said she would need to look more closely at Maine’s existing laws on reproductive rights and abortion before deciding whether she would support any efforts to roll them back, or stake out a position on adding a right to abortion in the state constitution.

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“I would consider myself to be a supporter to women reproductive rights,” she said. “As a mother, it really boils down to communication and support and understanding resources available to the mother.”

Kenny Cianchette, a Republican Senate candidate who owns Erik’s Church restaurant and bar in Windham, has been targeted twice by Democrats, who previously sent mailers claiming Cianchette took a $100,000 loan during the pandemic and then laid off his workers, and that he moved to the Lakes Region town after launching his Senate campaign.

POSITION MISCHARACTERIZED?

“I have spent the last eight years spending every waking moment building a reputable business in Windham. The attackers apparently think that I should have slept in my restaurant as well,” Cianchette said in an email. “In 2020, the state of Maine shut down our restaurants without notice. I took a loan to make sure I could employ my staff during COVID.”

Cianchette also said Democrats were mischaracterizing his position on abortion.

“I support a woman’s right to choose,” he said. “Our declining economic health is the main reason for my campaign.”

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Cianchette is challenging incumbent Sen. Timothy Nangle, D-Windham, for the District 26 seat.

The Press Herald could not reach several other Republicans being targeted: Leo Kenney, of Orono, who is challenging incumbent Sen. Mike Tipping, D-Orono, in District 8; Robert Meyer, of Searsport, who is challenging incumbent Sen. Chip Curry, D-Belfast, in District 11; and Dale Harmon, of East Boothbay, who is challenging incumbent Sen. Cameron Reny, D-Round Pond, in District 13.

The remaining two Republicans being targeted have legislative experience and are taken to task by Democrats for votes they took in the previous Legislature.

In 2021, Rep. Dick Bradstreet, R-Vassalboro, and former Rep. Bruce Bickford, R-Auburn, opposed $1.7 million in state and federal funding for sexual and reproductive health care providers and supported removing MaineCare funding for providers of abortion services. The mailers use those votes as a basis to say Bradstreet and Bickford are “dangerous to women,” “dangerous to Maine,” and “will vote to make abortions illegal in Maine.

Neither Bickford nor Bradstreet could be reached for comment.

Bradstreet is running against Rep. Raegan LaRochelle, D-Augusta, for an open seat in District 15, and Bickford is running against Bettyann Sheats, D-Auburn, and Dustin Ward, a New Gloucester independent, for an open seat in District 20.

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