Kenneth M. Curtis

Kenneth Merwin Curtis (born February 8, 1931 in Curtis Corner, Leeds , Maine ) is an American politician . He was governor of the state of Maine from 1967 to 1975 .

Early years

Kenneth Curtis graduated from Maine Maritime Academy in 1952 and from Portland University in 1959 , where he studied law. During the Korean War he was a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy .

Political career

Curtis is a member of the Democratic Party . From 1965 to 1966 he was Secretary of State in the Maine government. In 1966 he was elected governor of his state, where he prevailed with 53.1 percent of the vote against the Republican incumbent John H. Reed . After a re-election in 1970 - this time he only narrowly won with a share of 50.1 percent against James S. Erwin - he was able to officiate between January 5, 1967 and January 2, 1975. During this time, he has made a name for himself primarily for modernizing the Maine government. Curtis was also a member of many gubernatorial associations and played a leading role in the Democratic Party. Between 1977 and 1978 he was chairman of the Democratic National Committee . He later succeeded Thomas O. Ender's Ambassador of the United States in Canada from 1979 to 1981 . Between 1986 and 1994 he served as President of the Maine Maritime Academy . In 2000 he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention , where Al Gore was nominated as the party's presidential candidate.

2008 presidential campaign

He supported Hillary Clinton's election campaign in the 2008 presidential primaries . Since he has since moved to Florida , he was one of the so-called super delegates there for the Federal Democratic Party Congress. After the scramble over the timing of the Democratic primary elections in Florida, he originally lost his delegate status because Florida's votes at the federal party conference were not supposed to count. The agreement that the votes from Florida should count halfway was ultimately of no value, since Hillary Clinton had to admit her defeat to Barack Obama in the primary elections before the convention .

Private

Kenneth Curtis is married to Polly Curtis. The couple has one child. Curtis now lives temporarily on the property called Siesta Key in Sarasota , Florida.

Web links

• Kenneth M. Curtis in nndb (English)
• Kenneth Curtis in the National Governors Association (English)
• Biography on the website of his law firm
• Kenneth Curtis on the Maine Memory Network (English)