Maine Senate Candidates Court the Disability Vote

Maine state Senator Cythia Dill (Democrat) and former Governor Angus King (Independent) addressed a forum sponsored by the Disability Rights Center on September 27, gaining stories by the Associated Press as well as by local news station WABI. Dill and King are vying for the senate seat left by retiring Republican Senator Olympia Snowe.

Absent from the forum was Republican candidate Charlie Summers, a decision which upset the organizers of the event. Kim Moody, executive director of the Disability Rights Center is quoted in a story about Summers's absence in the Kennebec Journal:

"We're hurt. We've got 125 people with disabilities in the room who came to hear all candidates talk about our issues.... There are a lot of Republicans in there that came because he was coming."

King promised to appoint disabilities advisers if elected and discussed his efforts to get laptop computers to middle schoolers with disabilities. Dill emphasized her work as a civil rights attorney who has promoted the rights of people with disabilities in court and also discussed issues relating to the economy, social security, and the environment, in addition to disability-specific topics.

Both Dill and King indicated that Summers opposes the National Affordable Care Act, while they both support it.

Read the Associated Press report of the story or watch the WABI coverage of the forum.