Efforts on Health Care, Prescription Drugs and Public Good Earn Chellie Pingree the Backing of Over 10,000 Service Workers in Maine

AUGUSTA (August 12) - Citing her record of putting everyday people first, service workers represented by the over 10,000-member Maine State Employees Association, Local 1989 of the Service Employees International Union, today announced their endorsement of Chellie Pingree in Maine's First Congressional District. "Chellie Pingree has been a friend of working families, including MSEA-SEIU members, for many years," said Augusta resident Donna Doore, chairwoman of the MSEA-SEIU political action committee known as Political Action by Service Employees & Retirees. "Chellie stood by working families in the Maine Senate and as past president and CEO of Common Cause. She's advocating for working families in this campaign. "Chellie will provide leadership at the national level to help working families struggling with high gas prices, skyrocketing heating costs and rising health insurance premiums," Doore continued. "By electing Chellie to Congress, working families will have a strong voice in Washington. She'll look out for all of us." "As a state senator, Chellie Pingree took on the prescription drug companies to pass the first-in-the-nation Maine Rx legislation, making prescription drugs more affordable in Maine," said Bruce Hodsdon, president of MSEA-SEIU Local 1989. "She's not afraid to take on the prescription drug companies, the insurance industry and the oil companies. That's the kind of leadership we need at the national level." "Chellie knows exactly what it's like to work and raise a family in Maine," President Hodsdon added. "She understands that with the right leadership, government at the national level can help make life better for working families. Chellie will provide the leadership to find solutions to today's problems and tomorrow's." "MSEA is an important endorsement and I'm proud and honored to have their support," Pingree said in a statement. "We see eye to eye on the important issues that working men and women in Maine face. I was proud to work closely with them in the Maine Senate and I look forward to working together to win this election and get to work on creating and keeping high quality jobs here in Maine."