Editor’s Note: The endorsement covered below reflects the opinion of the Maine Republican Party and not the Senate Republican or House Republican caucuses.
The Maine Republican Party announced Tuesday that they intend to nominate Robert B. Charles for the position of Maine Attorney General.
In Maine, Constitutional Officers — including the Attorney General, Secretary of State, the State Auditor, and State Treasurer — are selected biennially as the start of the first session of the Legislature.
Charles is a Maine attorney who grew up in Wayne, graduated from Maranacook High School, and went on to attend Dartmouth College, Oxford University, and Columbia Law School.
As described in the GOP’s press release, Charles clerked for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on the West Coast, worked as a litigator, served in the Reagan and H.W. Bush Administrations, worked with the Congressional Oversight Committee, and was an Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell.
Much of the Maine Republican Party’s announcement focused on Charles’ work with respect to combating drug trafficking in various capacities.
“The Maine Republican Party, aligned with incoming legislators and Maine voters, believes we face an unprecedented public safety crisis, violent drug-trafficking organizations saturating Maine towns, cities, schools, and public places,” the Maine GOP argued when introducing their nominee. “We have never seen this kind of crisis before.”
“Unlike any past era, major international drug cartels have targeted Maine, including the Mexican, Dominican, Colombian, and Chinese traffickers,” they wrote. “They are already changing our state and threatening Maine’s youngest generation, eroding Maine’s traditional security, rural and urban.”
Charles was nominated to serve as an Assistant Secretary of State by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R) and went on to be unanimously confirmed by federal lawmakers.
The Maine GOP goes on to detail Charles’ experience work with respect to combating drug trafficking and other counter-narcotics efforts.
Under the Reagan and H.W. Bush Administrations, Charles is described as “craft[ing] effective counternarcotics strategies, prevention, treatment, law enforcement, interdiction, and source countries.”
“Charles helped write and implement the [High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas] HIDTA legislation, Drug Free Communities, ONDCP, and cooperative anti-drug laws nationwide, and knows how to get money back to Maine to help reduce abuse, addiction, drug crime, and trafficker dominance,” the GOP said.
“With Charles, we can leverage major federal resources to reduce drug supply – including the drugs themselves, illegal guns, human trafficking, and drug-related crime in the State of Maine,” said the party in their statement Tuesday.
Charles is also described as having “set up and run” the US House Bipartisan Counternarcotics caucus.
The announcement of Charles’ nomination also explains that he served ten years in Naval Intelligence and taught about government oversight at Harvard’s extension school.
Charles has written two books: one in 2018 called “Eagles and Evergreens” that detailed growing up in Maine among World War II veterans, and another in 2024 titled :Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness.”
“In nominating Robert Charles to the post of Attorney General, Maine has the chance for real and bipartisan change, a reversal of fortunes,” the Maine Republicans wrote. “He is single-minded, did it on the national and international level, helped architect and implement the end of drug trafficker dominance in besieged states and countries around the world.”
“We need this kind of serious, focused, bipartisan leadership now,” they argued.
“In closing, Charles is deeply committed to preserving the safety, security, and prosperity of Maine, working across party lines, and advocating for the people…who often do not have voices,” the Maine GOP concluded.
Disclosure: The Maine Wire has previously re-published columns written by Robert Charles as recently as June of this year.
Note: This article was updated on December 2, 2024 to correct a spelling error.
