WALDOBORO — A former state representative, who resigned from office three years ago after being charged with campaign violations, has filed an intent to run for the same seat.
Clinton Collamore filed his intent Monday for Maine House District 45, which covers Waldoboro, Friendship, Washington, Bremen and Louds Island. He plans to run as an unenrolled candidate (also known as independent).
Collamore said on Monday he would speak about his candidacy in time.
The seat is held by Republican Rep. Abden Simmons of Waldoboro. Simmons was elected in a special election in June 2023, defeating Democrat Wendy Pieh 1,435 to 1,313. Simmons then won a full two-year seat in November 2024, defeating Democrat Jennifer Stone, 3,073-2,337.
Collamore, 65, was elected in November 2022, defeating Republican Lynn Madison of Waldoboro, 2,083-2,045. Collamore was a veteran municipal official for Waldoboro.
He was indicted in December 2022. House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, asked Collamore to step down, which he did after a little more than a month in office.
Collamore pleaded guilty in June 2023 to 11 counts of unsworn falsification (Class D misdemeanors) and one count of criminal violation of the Maine Clean Election Act (Class E misdemeanor).
Justice Daniel Billings sentenced Collamore to 72 hours in jail but the former state legislator was allowed to serve the sentence through a first offender alternative sentencing program. In those programs, the person serves the time in an alternate location, such as a school or community building, and performs public service. Collamore was also ordered to serve 100 hours of community service. He previously paid $14,274 back to the Maine Ethics Commission.
His attorney, Richard Elliott, told reporters at court in 2023 that Collamore did not intend to defraud anybody or break the law. He said his client had received small dollar donations from supporters to qualify for the state’s clean election funds and filled out the paperwork at a later date, without having those donors sign the required form. He later filled in the forms and their signatures before submitting them to the state.
Collamore said he was alerted to the issues on his signature forms by the ethics commission when his submissions were being processed and self-reported to the Maine Ethics Commission and the Maine Attorney General’s Office prior to the election. He said he wanted to hold a press conference prior to the November election but was told not to by members of his Democratic party because it might affect election outcomes. Collamore did not identify who told him that.
