Former fitness executive Ben Midgley’s gubernatorial campaign filed an ethics complaint Monday alleging rival Bobby Charles’ team created an anonymous political site targeting Midgley without public disclosure as required by Maine law.
The complaint filed with the state Ethics Commission and obtained by Bangor Daily News argues Charles’ campaign “appears to have skirted campaign finance disclosure law, and worse purposely lied, by creating a communication that attacked one of their opponents … and included an incorrect financial disclosure in this negative communication.”
“When the Charles campaign thought they had been caught they then attempted to cover-up their involvement by removing the website,” the complaint adds. “Their desire to prevent a surging candidate from advancing to the Republican nomination clearly clouded their judgment.”
The complaint comes as the Republican primary heats up among seven contenders seeking to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. Charles has aggressively gone after rivals who have raised and spent more money on TV ads over the last month, particularly Midgley, former state Senate Majority Leader Garret Mason and entrepreneur Jonathan Bush.
The Charles’ campaign, which took down a site attacking Mason in March, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A strategist for his campaign said Friday that he did not recall the site.
The trio and real estate executive David Jones have ramped up criticism of Charles. They argue his promises to slash $4 billion from the state budget are unrealistic, and that he’s a divisive figure who would face a steeper challenge in a general election.
Midgley’s campaign manager Lauren LePage called on the Ethics Commission to review and investigate midgleyexposed.com and a March 26 campaign expenditure of $50 to a Charles strategist for GoDaddy’s web services. The site was registered on GoDaddy the same day.
Even if the site was not from the Charles campaign, it marked “a clear attempt to influence voters without proper disclosure,” she wrote. She cited the state’s required language for a non-affiliated political communication: “NOT PAID FOR OR AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE.”
The anti-Midgley site’s disclaimer read, “Independent political commentary not paid for or authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.” After a BDN story on the issue over the weekend, it was updated to include, “Not associated with entities mentioned in the BDN.”
The Jones campaign, Democratic officials and outside groups associated with the race all denied any role in creating such sites.
The Midgley site, which was taken down sometime after April 30, highlighted the businessman’s 25-plus years as a Democrat. It accused him of trying to rebrand from a “woke” DEI-focused CEO whose company offered pole dancing lessons, and who changed parties in an attempted “power grab.”
“The material contained on this website has many factual errors and purposeful false representations including the fact that Mr. Midgley was not in charge of each franchise, he ran the parent company,” LePage wrote in the complaint. “Locations which displayed signage or promoted anything noted by this false website did so on their own without the approval or even notification of Mr. Midgley. We believe the Charles campaign is fully aware of this and put out this false material anyway.”
Vincent Harris, Charles’ campaign strategist, noted that Charles has been increasingly vocal on social media and at events in critiquing opponents. Another site with a similar name, bobbycharlesexposed.com, and a disclaimer identical to the one going after Midgley, remains active. Jones shared the site over social media in March.
That site paints Charles, a longtime lobbyist and former U.S. State Department official, as a “globalist” carpetbagger and “deep state insider.”
