The bipartisan Maine Ethics Commission voted unanimously on Friday, Oct. 16 to broaden the scope of the ongoing investigation into the alleged illegal electioneering in Senate District 13, and to authorize the Commission staff to collect confidential information from the Republican PACs for review. 

The Lincoln County Democratic Committee (LCDC) filed a complaint with the Commission about phone calls and texts on Sept. 15. The communications presented themselves as an impartial polling operation, but proceeded to make false claims in an apparent attempt to push voters away from Chloe Maxmin (D-Nobleboro) after making a favorable statement about incumbent Dana Dow (R-Waldoboro). Legitimate polls conducted by campaigns and for media outlets generally ask neutral questions and collect demographic information to properly weigh and tabulate results. These “surveys” differed in both respects, leading Commission staff to recommend that the Commission authorize an investigation into possible infractions of multiple Maine statutes. 

The Ethics Commission first addressed the matter at its Sept. 30 meeting, and voted unanimously to authorize an investigation into the shadowy calls and texts. At the September meeting Commissioners cautioned that it might not be possible to identify who was behind the activities before the election, due to the fictitious name and dead-end phone number of the organization in question. 

On Oct. 16, PACs associated with the Republican caucus of the Maine State Senate acknowledged responsibility before the Maine Ethics Commission for the alleged illegal advocacy calls in District 13 that are currently under investigation. The Payee hired behind these activities is Red Maverick Media, a political consultancy. The consultancy does not list polling as one of the services that it provides on its website. Instead, Red Maverick promotes its “Telephone Voter Contact” service on its website: “Using a mix of automated and live calls will make the voter aware of your message without becoming frustrated with the delivery. Just as important, we target the right voters with the message they need to hear, in the form they’ll listen.”

According to Shawn Roderick, who coordinates political campaigns of Republican nominees for the Maine Senate, the activities under investigation were funded by payments of over $50,000 by two PACs associated with the Senate Republican caucus. 

Following the Ethics Commission's Sept. 30 decision to investigate, the Portland Press Herald reported that Dana Dow denied any involvement in the activities in question. However, it was revealed Friday that Mr. Dow is the Principal Officer of the Maine Senate Republican Majority PAC, which financed the expenditure. As Principal Officer of the PAC, Mr. Dow is by definition, "deemed to have participated in all spending decisions" by the PAC.

Under Maine law, election-related telephone communications made after Labor Day that clearly identify a candidate must contain a disclaimer statement identifying the organization that is paying for the phone calls. In this case the communications failed to do so, instead masquerading as a legitimate polling organization under the fictitious name of “Public Opinion Research.” According to the Ethics Commission staff, the telephone number given in the communications led to a dead-end recording with no option to reach a real person. There is an exception to the disclaimer requirement for telephone surveys that “meet generally accepted standards for polling research” and that also “are not conducted for the purpose of influencing the voting position of call recipients.” 

The advocacy calls under investigation do not appear to meet either of these requirements. 

According to the Ethics Commission Sept. 22 staff report, “Based on research of polling industry practices from Gallup, Pew Research, and the New York Times, Commission staff suggests that the Senate District 13 survey fails to make demographic inquiries consistent with standard polling industry practices.” 

On the matter of the purpose of the calls the Commission staff concluded, “based on the two operative questions staff agrees with the LCDC that the primary purpose of the poll may be to influence the voting position of the call recipients.”