Hobbins not pleased with Republicans’ misrepresentation

(Saco, Maine) State Representative Barry J. Hobbins of Saco said today he was disappointed to learn that voters in state senate district 31 received a flyer in the in the mail recently that obscures his support for the current Democratic candidate, Justin Chenette.

“The information the Republican Party put on that flyer mentioning my name several times is significantly out of context,” Hobbins said. “They made it seem as if I am opposed to Justin winning this election, when actually I am in favor of his candidacy. I just want the voters to know that.”

Hobbins said statements printed on the brochure were lifted, out of context, from a blog post written by Randy Seaver, a well-known public relations expert. The article was written several years ago. Seaver’s blog was not cited on the flyer as the source of the quoted information, and he said he is uncomfortable that his work and mentions of Hobbins are portrayed in the manner that they were.

“First of all, I wrote this several years ago, it was an in-depth piece, and it was not in the context of a political campaign. This attempt at selectively cherry picking distorts reality, and that’s unfortunate, ” Seaver said. “Second, I happen to know that Barry’s support for Justin is solid. Barry has always supported his party, and anything that implies he does not is unfair to him.”

Hobbins said he regrets the extremely partisan nature of the current election cycle.

“Justin and I ran tough campaigns against each other, but it was very clean and above board. He won fair and square, and now I support him. I hope everyone can look at our primary campaign as an example of how politics should be. It is not necessary to be so negative, especially in local and state races,” Hobbins said.