Sanford Police Chief, Eric Small Photo: Courtesy
By Lee Burnett
Sanford Police Chief Eric Small is abandoning his campaign for the Maine Legislature and the Republican Party.
Small consulted party leaders and notified his Democratic opponent in the House District 143 race last week.
Small declined to comment on his decision beyond a press release. He said no single issue prompted his withdrawal from the race, although he could not abide the Republican Party’s opposition to reproductive rights and certain LGBTQ issues.
“I did not reach this decision lightly,” Small said. “I spent a long time trying to convince myself that I still fit within the Republican Party. The truth is that I don’t. While I continue to believe in personal responsibility, fiscal accountability, public safety, and individual liberty, I no longer share the party’s views on a number of issues that are important to me. At some point, continuing to present myself as a Republican nominee no longer felt honest.”
It’s up to the Sanford Republican Committee to hold a caucus and elect a replacement candidate. The deadline is 5 pm on July 26 for submitting that person’s name to the Secretary of State’s office for inclusion on the November ballot, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Small acknowledged his politicking as a candidate may have hurt his image as the top law enforcement officer in the city.
“In hindsight, I underestimated the effect that entering partisan politics would have on how some people viewed me and my role as Chief of Police,” Small said. “One of the things that has weighed on me most is the realization that some members of the community may have questioned whether I would stand up for them, protect them, or treat them fairly because of a political party affiliation. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
He said he takes seriously his oath to protect all community members regardless of their politics, religion, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or personal beliefs.
“If there is one regret I have from entering partisan politics, it is that it may have caused some people to question that commitment. That is not who I am, and it never will be. My responsibility has always been to the entire community, and it always will be.”
One such questioning person was State Rep. Anne-Marie Mastraccio. Last August, after Small posted on his social media his opposition to taxpayer-funded gender affirming care, Mastraccio called on Small to resign as police chief, saying he had compromised his department’s impartiality toward the LGBTQ community. At the time, Small defended his right to speak his mind and called on Mastraccio to apologize to him for trying to squelch his First Amendment rights.
Small’s withdrawal leaves the race wide open, for the moment, for Democratic opponent John Henkelman, an adjunct professor at the University of New England. Henkelman said has met regularly with Small over coffee, wishes him well and said he’s excited to work with him as police chief.
Small entered electoral politics last July when he announced plans to run in the Republican primary to challenge Chellie Pingree, the longtime Democratic member of Congress from Maine’s First District. At the time, Small said he got a legal opinion through City Manager Steven Buck verifying that the federal Hatch Act, while it prohibits government employees, including local ones, from engaging in political activity while on the job, does not prohibit political activity on their own time.
In November, Small dropped out of that race and into the race for Maine Legislature in House District 143 when Republican Rep. Ann Fredericks announced her departure. At the time, Small said running for state office made sense because as police chief “I have seen firsthand the challenges our families face – from public safety to affordability – and I believe real change begins right here at home.” That said, unseating Pingree would have been a daunting challenge because the First District is “as blue as blue can get,” according to UMaine political science professor Mark Brewer.
Small said he intends to drop his registration as a Republican and register as an unenrolled voter.
“This decision is not made out of anger or resentment,” he said. “I remain grateful to the many Republicans who supported, encouraged, and believed in me over the years. I found the Sanford Republican Committee to be filled with kind, good people, but I respect the committee’s right to select a candidate who best represents its platform, just as I respect my own obligation to be honest about where I stand.”
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