The Pittsburgh Press (September 11, 1944)
PAC in battle in Maine election
Portland, Maine (UP) –
The CIO Political Action Committee’s attempt to unseat three Republican Congressmen was the highlight today as Maine voters went to the polls in the nation’s first state election of this presidential year.
The PAC has opposed all three Congressional incumbents, waging a particularly aggressive campaign in the first district where Andrew A. Pettis of Portland, president of a CIO shipyard union, seeks the place of Rep. Robert Hale of Portland. In the other districts, David H. Staples, member of the Brotherhood of Railroad Engineers, opposes Rep. Margaret C. Smith of Skowhegan, while Rep. Frank Fellows of Bangor is opposed by Ralph E. Graham of Brewer.
Also at stake is the governorship, traditionally held by a Republican. Republican State Senate President Horace A. Hildreth and Democrat Paul J. Jullien are the gubernatorial candidates. Republican Governor Sumner Sewall is retiring.