NEWS

May 7, 2008 - Candidates eye Congress at Augusta forum


By Susan Cover
The Kennebec Journal
Augusta, ME

AUGUSTA -- All eight candidates running for the 1st Congressional District seat sought to distinguish themselves from the pack Tuesday at a forum in Augusta.

With just five weeks to go before the June 10 primary, six Democrats and two Republicans told about 30 people gathered at a Maine Council of Senior Citizens/Alliance for Retired Americans forum about their plans to improve the state and country.

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May 4 , 2008 - dean scontras' reagan movement

By Jessica Alaimo
PolitickerME.com

GOP convention officials were facing tight time constraints after elections for national committeeman and committeewoman took far longer than expected on Friday. They decided to cut speeches by congressional candidates back by a couple of minutes.

This did not sit well with a lot of people. The candidates were then allowed to speak again at the district caucuses the following day.

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april 8, 2008 - Congressional race has forum in Augusta

By Susan Cover
The Kennebec Journal
Augusta, ME

AUGUSTA -- There are 80,000 veterans in the 1st Congressional District.
Candidates hoping to win that seat in Congress worked hard Monday to appeal to that voting bloc.

Yet many of the issues have universal appeal.

The candidates running for the 1st Congressional District talked about health care, the economy, the war in Iraq and veterans issues during a forum sponsored by the Maine Veterans Coordinating Committee.

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april 5, 2008 - Governor's letter raises volume of Real ID debate

By Glenn Adams
Associated Press Writer

AUGUSTA, Maine—Gov. John Baldacci's decision to seek changes in Maine's driver's license standards to satisfy federal officials' demands has cranked up the volume of public debate in Maine and beyond over the government's Real ID program.

The law aimed at making state-issued licenses more secure, already fodder in Maine political campaigns, has drawn comments of support and disdain within the state and was the subject of a report on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight last week. The coming days promise to bring more commentary.

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april 2, 2008 - Scontras forms ‘faith and values’ coalition

By Susan Cover
The Kennebec Journal
Augusta, ME

Dean Scontras, one of two Republicans running for the 1st Congressional District, recently announced the formation of a Scontras for Congress Faith and Values Coalition, according to his campaign.

The coalition includes more than 25 religious and community leaders who are supporting Scontras because of his “strong belief in traditional conservative cultural values.”

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march 25, 2008 - Scontras holds onto core GOP principles
But 'Uncle Sam lags in technology'

By Deborah McDermott
The Portsmouth Herald
Portsmouth, NH

It's important to Dean Scontras that Maine District 1 congressional voters know he's a native Mainer. More to the point, he's a Kittery boy, a Traip graduate who attended UMaine on a football scholarship.

And he's the grandson of Greek immigrants, people who came here legally and pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps to make something of themselves.

It is a little bit of all this, plus a work resume that comes mostly from high-tech start-up companies that formed to make him what he calls a "next generation Republican."

This means, the 38-year-old said, that while he has a solid grounding in Republican ideals, he also sees the necessity of looking ahead, of incorporating 21st-century technology in the workings of a federal government lagging behind.

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march 21, 2008 - Entry point Some say illegal immigrants can get licenses too easily in Maine

By Maria Sacchetti
Boston Globe
Boston

PORTLAND, Maine - Authorities nabbed the first group in September 2006, illegal immigrants from Poland and Peru cruising down Washington Avenue, all of them in town to apply for Maine driver's licenses. The next month, authorities arrested another group. Last month, they caught a third.

Maine is the only state in New England in which illegal immigrants can still get driver's licenses, and federal officials fear that Vacationland is becoming a destination of a different sort: The go-to state for unlawful immigrants seeking state identification that would make it easier to live, work, and drive in the United States.

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march 9, 2008 - So, This Politician Walks into a Room…….

Posted by Fran on March 9th, 2008 filed in My Politics

I had the pleasure to meet Dean Scontras, Republican running for the 1st Congressional District, here in Maine. Some trusted friends of mine have given Mr. Scontras high praise for his stand on issues that are of mutual interest in my sphere of peers. So, I was glad that Mr. Scontras made an appearance at the H.O.M.E. Convention in Rockport, ME; it gave me a brief chance to get acquainted with him.

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February 23, 2008 - bill would tighten drivers license requirements

By Victoria Wallack
Statehouse Reporter
Village Soup

AUGUSTA (Feb 23): Legislators are considering a bill that would require people to prove they live in Maine before being given a driver’s license here, but they are skirting the more contentious issue of whether the state Department of Motor Vehicles should ask applicants to show they are in the country legally.

Republicans see it as an issue that could help them win more legislative seats in the upcoming November election, and Maine’s reputation as an “easy” state in which to get a license made the national news last month when CNN’s Lou Dobbs lambasted Democratic Gov. John Baldacci and Secretary of State Matt Dunlap.

“He said the governor and secretary of state in Maine are idiots. He’s never spoken to me, and I’m not sure he’s ever seen our policies,” Dunlap said, but commentators like Dobbs and those on talk radio are whipping up sentiment around the issue.

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JANUARY 29, 2008 - Dean Scontras A "Next Generation"
Republican to Run for Congress

By Vicki J. Yiannias
Greek News Online
New York

Dean Scontras, second generation Greek American former computer sales rep (at the beginning of the internet revolution) and businessman has begun his campaign to run for Maineʼs 1st congressional District. Scontras has now resigned from that industry in order to focus all of his efforts on running for office in a full-time capacity.

A native of Kittery Maine and graduate of the University of Maine at Orono, the thirty-eight year old Scontras who has a family network running throughout Southern Maine, feels connected to his Greek heritage and looks forward to planning his first trip to Greece to visit his grandparentsʼ village in Vatika, in the southern Peloponnesos, when he has a breather. Meanwhile, The Greek News caught him on the run to elaborate on some issues he is addressing in his campaign.

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JANUARY 28, 2008 - Republicans views on four issues

By Kevin Wack, Staff Writer
Portland Press Herald

TWO REPUBLICANS are seeking their party`s nomination in the 1st Congressional District. Here are their positions on four issues on which they`ve offered differing views.

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JANUARY 7, 2008 - Scontras to Run for House Seat in 2008

By Theodore Kalmoukos
Special to The National Herald

BOSTON – Second generation Greek American businessman Dean Scontras has filed his Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission, making his decision to formally run for Maine’s 1st Congressional District.

Mr. Scontras, a native of Kittery and graduate of the University of Maine at Orono, is running under the slogan “a next generation Republican.” He has been at the center of several successful high–tech business ventures over the past 15 years. In an interview with the National Herald he said that he decided to run for the for the seat “for several reasons.”

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December 13, 2007 - Immigration battle comes to 1st CD

December 12, 2007 - Scontras Rides the Illegal Alien Driver License Issue

www.politickerme.com

December 7, 2007 - Maine Governor Asked to Rescind
'Santurary State' Executive Order

Maine Safety and Security News Blog

The governor of Maine has been asked to rescind the 'Sanctuary State' executive order that provides the ability for illegal immigrants and other out-of-state non-residents lacking proper identification to get Maine drivers licenses. Congressional candidate Dean Scontras has called this directive by Governor Baldacci a "misguided order". Read more details in the mainewebreport blog of December 5, 2007 - "Scontras to Baldacci: Rescind 'Sanctuary State' executive order".

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December 7, 2007 - Republicans say driver's license rules
don't go far enough

Portland Press Herald

AUGUSTA — Republicans in the Maine House expressed shock Thursday about a report that calls for tighter rules for driver's licenses but stops short of saying illegal aliens should be prevented from getting them.

"At a time when our country is at war with Islamic extremists, it is absurd to give licenses to illegal aliens," said House Minority Leader Josh Tardy of Newport. "With an official license, they can board flights, enter government buildings, collect welfare and probably even vote."

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap dismissed the criticism. He said that while the state has never been in the business of documenting U.S. immigration status, the percentage of Maine license holders whose legal presence is in question is "minuscule."

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December 5, 2007 - Maine policy on driver's licenses drawing scrutiny

The Boston Globe

AUGUSTA, Maine - As a national debate over immigration rages, Maine's policy of granting driver's licenses to nonresidents and people with no proof of legal residency is coming under closer scrutiny.

The secretary of state's office says active driver's licenses are currently issued to 2,521 people who have no Social Security numbers, meaning they could be in the United States illegally.

Those are among the 5,771 names in the Bureau of Motor Vehicles registry of people who lack proof that they are in the country legally or who for some other reason are listed without Social Security numbers.

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Dean Scontras Calls for End To Maine's Status as a Sanctuary State ...

Hellenic News of America - Havertown,PA,USA

PORTLAND, Maine - Congressional candidate Dean Scontras called today for Governor Baldacci to terminate Maine's status as a sanctuary state for illegal aliens. Scontras said an executive order issued in 2004 has turned Maine into the nation's only sanctuary state, where people in the country illegally are entitled to the full range of welfare benefits, driver's licenses, and other privileges intended for lawful state residents.

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NOVEMBER 13, 2007 - Let's stop illegals from getting Maine licenses
By Dean Scontras
11/13/2007 Special Edition to the Portland Press Herald

The governor of New York recently ignited a firestorm of outrage with an executive order to issue driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Fortunately, the people overwhelmingly rejected the governor's ill-advised plan. There is now talk in Albany of recalling the governor.

Last spring, the Washington political establishment was essentially overthrown when it tried to pass an amnesty bill for illegals. Enraged Americans of all political stripes jammed Capitol Hill switchboards to prevent that horrendous, 1,000- page bill from becoming law.

The American people have made it clear that they oppose granting rights to illegal aliens. That message has not penetrated the consciousness of the people who control the Legislature and the governor's mansion in Maine.

Most Mainers don't realize that our state already issues driver's licenses to people who are in the country illegally.

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NOVEMBER 11, 2007 - Candidates for open House seat raising online money
By Jessica Alaimo, www.politickerme.com

Dean Scontras knows money means victory. This means seeking money from out of state, along with his opponents, for his bid for Congress.

Scontras, a Republican candidate for Maine's first congressional district, started fundraising on Slatecard.com. It's a new social networking and fundraising site for Republicans.

The seat Scontras is vying for is being vacated by U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, who is challenging Sen. Susan Collins in the 2008 Senate race.

Scontras, a businessman from Eliot, calls himself a "Reagan Republican." He said he wants to bring ideas to the table that unite social conservatives, fiscal conservatives and strong national security conservatives. He said he supports smaller government, fewer government regulations and stronger immigration laws.

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Maine 1st District candidates take questions at VFW forum
Foster's Daily Democrat - Dover,NH,USA
Republicans who participated were Dean Scontras, whose work
experience is in the technology sector, and Ruth Summers, campaigning
for her husband, ...

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Republican 2.0: An Interview with Dean Scontras
The Pachyderm Press
BY JACOB ROUNDTREE
On September 1st I sat down to talk with Dean Scontras, at Augusta’s city council building. He was there to speak with the Maine College Republicans who were having their annual leadership training session. Dean is running to be the Republican nominee for Maine’s 1st District House Seat, which hasn’t been competitive in a decade. I came away from the discussion assured that Dean is truly the Next Generation Republican that he claims to be. Whether he’s talking about the digitization of medical records, giving his campaign staff titles typically reserved for business executives, or maintaining what is clearly the most comprehensive website of any candidate, Dean constantly demonstrates that Republican 2.0 is not just rhetoric it’s a revolutionary approach to both campaigning and managing government.

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Reaganomics 2.0
Wall Street Journal - USA
BY STEPHEN MOORE
Earlier this year the cover of Time Magazine depicted Ronald Reagan with a tear running down his cheek -- the message being that the political class has abandoned the Reagan legacy. There's no doubt Reagan's pro-growth, tax cutting philosophy is in full-scale retreat: This Congress has proposed higher tax rates on personal income, capital gains and dividends. Ironically, the Reagan economic philosophy of lower taxes, less regulation and free trade has never been more in vogue abroad -- so much so that it has become the global economic operating system.
Let's call this phenomenon Reaganomics 2.0.

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Dean Scontras Comments on Congress'Record Low Approval Rating
Hellenic News of America - Havertown,PA,USA
Eliot, Maine -1st District Congressional Candidate Dean Scontras commented today on the historic low rate of approval that the United States Congress ...

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Dean Scontras Signs Taxpayer Protection Pledge

Maine Needs a Chief Development Officer
The business climate in Maine continues to plummet. Forbes Mgazine released is table of the Best States for Business, and Maine is ranked 48th. M.D. Harmon says something about it. Dean Scontras wants to do something about it.

July 12th, 2007 - Second Republican Announces For Maine's First District
WCSH-TV - Portland,ME,USA
ELIOT (AP) -- A second Republican is entering the race for Maine's First District congressional seat. Dean Scontras of Eliot announced today that he has filed documents with the Federal Elections Commission, making formal his decision to seek the Republican nomination.

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July 12th, 2007 - Eliot businessman announces run for Congress in Maine 1st District
Foster's Daily Democrat - Dover,NH,USA
ELIOT, Maine -- Local businessman Dean Scontras announced this morning that he will run for Maine's First District congressional seat.

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July 12th, 2007 - Eliot businessman announces run for Congress
MaineToday.com - Portland,ME,USA
ELIOT — A businessman from Eliot announced Thursday that he is entering the 2008 race to be the Republican candidate for Maine's 1st District congressional seat.

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