Dear Readers,

It is getting close to election day. On Tuesday, Nov. 4, we exercise our right to cast our ballots for the person who will lead our state for the next four years.

It is the time when we can no longer tell fibs to the telephone surveyors who interrupt our supper hour to to convince us to vote for or against this or that candidate. In the last month, we must have gotten a dozen calls a week from folks urging us to vote for Gov. Paul LePage, the Republican, U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, the Democrat, or Eliot Cutler, the Independent.

The “experts” say LePage would likely lose if it was a two man race. But it is not, and the same “experts” opine that those who are not enamored with our newest Boothbay homeowner may split the anti-incumbent vote, just like the three candidates did last time.

Official results for the 2010 election show LePage won with 37.6 percent of all votes cast, while Cutler received 35.9 percent as Libby Mitchell, the Democrat, polled 18 percent. In Lincoln County, the numbers resembled the state totals with LePage winning 40.2 percent, Cutler 36.9 percent and Mitchell 18.5 percent.

Since this race began, the anti-LePage folks, not all of them Democrats, have urged folks to reject Cutler because a vote for him might split the anti-incumbent vote, and hurt their efforts to defeat the governor. As he traveled the state, Cutler has been asked if he has any plans to quit the race and his answer has been “No.”

I wonder if Michaud has been asked if he would quit the race to help Cutler, but I have not seen any stories reporting his answer.

At the recent debates, LePage has sort of taken a shine to Cutler, as if to urge the anti-LePage voters to vote for the independent, thus giving the governor a bit of a boost.

Traditional editorial writers endorse candidates urging their readers to support Candidate A over Candidate B, because ... and they lay a list of reasons for their endorsement.

Instead of an endorsement, we have chosen to give you additional information on the candidates to supplement what you might receive from other sources. We have interviewed Cutler and Michaud. LePage has refused our request for a face-to-face interview. If you missed those stories in the paper, you can read them on our websites at our Election Center 2014, along with interviews with the two candidates for U.S. Senate, Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Shenna Bellows, and others.

Now, it is time for you to choose. And we suggest you do not base your vote on which candidate might beat the other candidate, some other mythical mathematical formula for victory, or any other of a dozen “what if” scenarios.

You have all seen the debates, read campaign accounts in our daily papers and been bombarded with TV ads. Now  we respectfully suggest you set all of that aside and base your choice on the answer to just one simple question.

Who do you believe is the best person to lead our state government for the next four years?

I know that is what I plan to do.

Your hometown newspaper

Now, for a bit of self-congratulation. Last weekend, the staff of your favorite newspapers earned a special honor as The Maine Press Association picked our online news websites for their special award for general excellence.

When you see Editor Kevin Burnham and the others on our fine staff, give them a high five, a low five and a wink. This award is a big deal, especially for an “old school” news operation that had to work so hard to build a superior news website to augment our fine community newspapers.

Well done to all.