AUGUSTA, Maine — Newly elected State Rep. Clinton Collamore is being asked to resign from the legislature after allegedly committing fraud in order to receive campaign funds.
Collamore, D-Waldoboro, was elected in November after narrowly beating Republican Lynn Madison for the House District 45 seat, according to reporting by the PenBay Pilot.
An ethics commission memo published online Tuesday revealed Collamore was indicted by the Maine Office of the Attorney General for reportedly forging upwards of 30 signatures on state forms.
Those signatures allowed Collamore to receive six payments totaling more than $14,274 in Maine Clean Elections Act funds for his campaign.
To qualify for public campaign funds, candidates are required to collect $5 contributions from at least 60 registered voters in the candidate's district.
Jonathan Wayne, executive director of the state's Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, said in the memo that his staff believed "the candidate had signed for the contributors."
Four of the people Collamore allegedly signed for told the Commission they did not sign the forms. The case was referred to the AG's Office.
"In light of these allegations, the Speaker of the House is requesting Mr. Collamore’s immediate resignation," Mary Erin Casale, interim spokesperson for Democratic Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross said in a statement.
Casale said she could not comment further, given that it was a "legal matter."
“You really have to talk to my lawyer,” Collamore told NEWS CENTER Maine when reached by phone Tuesday night.
We reached out to his attorney for comment but have yet to hear back.
The commission is waiting for criminal proceedings to play out before taking any action of its own.