Another Entrant Into The Gubernatorial Scrum?

By Matthew Gagnon
December 8, 2009

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Recently I have been hearing a rumor that there may potentially be another candidate in the 2010 gubernatorial election on the Republican side.

True, we are still waiting on people like Steve Abbott (R) and Pat McGowan (D), but this one was not even remotely on my radar until recently.

President of Husson College, William H. Beardsley (what a great Republican name), is stepping down from his position at the end of December, and the buzz now is that he will be seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination immediately thereafter.

His entry – and that of Abbott – would give us a whopping seven Republican candidates.

Beardsley is a very well respected community member who has done an excellent job at the helm of Husson College for over two decades. He also has ties to Senator Susan Collins.

What remains to be seen, of course, is just how much support he would be able to capture in the primary. He – much like nearly all the other candidates – is a first time candidate with no real statewide notoriety, and nothing in particular stands out as a natural constituency for him. I will admit, however, that of all the potential candidates I am least acquainted with his history, so I will reserve analytical judgement until I learn more, and of course until we learn more about his intentions.

As I said, at this point this is nothing more than a rumor that has been knocking down my door. But, it is a serious enough rumor for me to run with. Emails to Mr. Beardsley have not yet been returned as of the printing of this article.

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Tags: 2010 Gubernatorial Race, 2010 Republican Gubernatorial Primary, Bill Beardsley, Pat McGowan

6 Responses to “Another Entrant Into The Gubernatorial Scrum?”

Esther

08. Dec, 2009

What ties does he have to Collins, specifically?
Mike

09. Dec, 2009

My only thought on him: who?

He makes Bruce Poliquin and Paul LePage look like household names. Obviously any connection to Susan will be useless with Abbott in the race. An education bureaucrat is an unlikely gubernatorial candidate.

He’s a lot more likely to wind up on Steve Abbott’s finance committee than he is to run for anything. And then he won’t be at the top of the list of names, believe me.

People with low name ID and no political experience like this need to start very, very early (like Scarcelli, Poliquin and Jacobson did) to get any traction at all. Even then it’s an uphill climb. Even if this rumor is true, he won’t have any impact.
Mike

09. Dec, 2009

Nothing that will trump being her Chief of Staff, obviously, so it’s irrelevant. Nothing short of being an immediate family member would trump that.
Mike

11. Jan, 2010

A review of today’s ethics site shows Beardsley has filed to run.
Mike

11. Jan, 2010

That’s a different Mike, BTW. I don’t have the pretty picture.

I can’t say I’m surprised, because I never heard of him, but I also can’t say I (or based on the article, anyone else) cares.

The Daniel Wathen of 2010.

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