YORK COUNTY, Maine – Republican gubernatorial candidate Ben Midgley won a straw poll held at the York County Republican official caucus last Saturday, his campaign said, describing the result as the first test of support in the party’s primary contest.
The campaign said Midgley “won big,” defeating the next closest candidate by double digits.
“My common-sense conservative message is resonating,” said Ben Midgley.
“Maine Republicans know my background of going from food stamps to building and leading a company, creating 15,000 jobs, dealing with complex budgets, and handling tremendous pressure is the kind of leadership Maine needs right now. What I am not is a politician, a former bureaucrat or lobbyist, or from a famous political family. I can win the November election and fix the mess created by Janet Mills and the Democrats in Augusta,” he added.
“I will tackle out-of-control electricity prices and government spending. I will find the waste and fraud in our welfare problems – including in non-citizen programs – and put an end to it,” said Ben.
“I will help Maine compete for new jobs and higher wages. I will end the ideological extremism that has led to education officials focused on keeping boys in girls’ sports rather than raising academic performance. I won’t fight the federal government’s need to enforce our immigration laws. I will support our state and local law enforcement as they work to crack down on crime and keep us safe,” added Midgley.
The campaign said Midgley far outperformed candidates Libby, Jones, Charles, McCarthy, Bush, Mason, and Wessels, who finished behind him “in that order.”
The statement also criticized a Pan Atlantic poll circulated by other candidates and “liberal media,” saying Midgley’s name was left off the ballot and that the poll claimed another candidate was in the lead.
The statement cited prior coverage and commentary, saying, “The MAINE WIRE reported, ‘curiously, the Democrat-friendly poll did not include Republican candidate Ben Midgley, an entrepreneur from York County seen by some as a potentially strong candidate for the general election.’”
It also cited Spectrum News as reporting, “the pollsters didn’t ask voters” about Midgley, and said The George Hale Ric Tyler Show stated, “our hunch about this week’s Pan Atlantic survey was correct.”
The campaign website is listed as www.benforgovernor.com.
The statement also noted that a Fox News host described Midgley as a “self-made star, who started out at the very bottom.”
