Eliot Cutler is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and was an Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 candidate in Maine's 2010 gubernatorial race

Maine gubernatorial election, 2010

The 2010 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic Governor John Baldacci was term-limited and unable to seek re-election. Primary elections took place on June 8, 2010...

.

Born and raised in Bangor, Maine

Bangor, Maine

Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...

, Cutler graduated from Harvard College

Harvard College

Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...

 and later earned a degree from Georgetown Law.

He served as Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science in the Office of Management and Budget in the Carter administration, and was the principal White House official for energy. Cutler began his career as a legislative assistant to Senator Edmund Muskie

Edmund Muskie

Edmund Sixtus "Ed" Muskie was an American politician from Rumford, Maine. He served as Governor of Maine from 1955 to 1959, as a member of the United States Senate from 1959 to 1980, and as Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter from 1980 to 1981...

 of Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

, helping craft the Clean Water Act

Clean Water Act

The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that...

 and the Clean Air Act

Clean Air Act (United States)

The Clean Air Act is a United States federal law enacted by Congress, and signed by President Richard Nixon on December 31, 1970 to control air pollution on a national level. It requires the Environmental Protection Agency to develop and enforce regulations to protect the general public from...

.

He was a founding partner of Cutler & Stanfield LLP, which became the second largest environmental law firm in the country, eventually merging that practice with international firm Akin Gump in 2000.

Cutler resides in Cape Elizabeth

Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Cape Elizabeth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The town is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area...

 with his wife, Melanie Stewart Cutler. They have three adult children.

Gubernatorial campaign

On December 9, 2009, Cutler officially launched his campaign for governor of Maine. If elected, he would have been Maine’s third Independent governor. He was endorsed by Maine's second Independent governor, Angus King

Angus King

Angus S. King, Jr. served two terms as the 72nd Governor of Maine from 1995 to 2003. Since 2004, King has been a distinguished lecturer at Bowdoin College teaching a course called "Leaders and Leadership"; in the fall of 2009, he also taught a similar course at Bates College...

.

In a close election night race, Cutler took an early lead. As the results came in from Maine's smaller and more rural communities, Cutler's lead shrunk, and eventually opponent Paul LePage

Paul LePage

Paul Richard LePage is an American businessman and politician who is serving as the 74th and current Governor of Maine. A Republican, he was previously mayor of Waterville from 2003 to 2011, and was a city councilor before that...

 took the lead. On the day after the election, with 94% of precincts reporting, the Bangor Daily News

Bangor Daily News

The Bangor Daily News is an American newspaper that was founded on June 18, 1889; in 1900 the paper merged with the Bangor Whig and Courier. The Bangor Publishing Co. publishes the paper in Bangor, Maine, in addition to two weekly papers distributed by the BDN and several others distributed by the...

declared LePage the winner, with 38.1% of the votes, compared to Cutler's 36.7%.

External links

• Cutler 2010 (official candidate web site)
• Who Stole Election Day? Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2010