John R. McKernan, Jr.

Infobox Governor


name= John R. McKernan, Jr.
caption=Official portrait of Governor McKernan
order=71^st
office=Governor of Maine
term_start=January 8 1987
term_end=January 8 1995
lieutenant= None
predecessor= Joseph E. Brennan
successor= Angus King
birth_date= birth date and age |1948|5|20
birth_place= Bangor, Maine,
death_date=
death_place=
spouse= Senator Olympia Snowe
profession=Entrepreneur
party= Republican
religion=
footnotes=

John Rettie "Jock" McKernan, Jr. (born May 20 1948) is an American politician who served two terms as Governor of Maine, from 1987 to 1995.

Born in Bangor, Maine, McKernan attended Dartmouth College and then the University of Maine School of Law. A Republican, McKernan was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives before becoming Governor. He also served in the State House from 1973 to 1977 and was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1976 and 1984.

Early Life

John McKernan was born in Bangor, Maine in May of 1948. He grew up there, attending public schools in the Bangor school system all the way through High School. After graduating, McKernan attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1970.

He then returned to Maine and joined the Maine Army National Guard, which he served in from 1970 until 1973. During this time, he moved to Portland, Maine to pursue graduate studies at the University of Maine School of Law. He completed his law degree in 1974, while already serving in the Maine House of Representatives.

Maine House of Representatives (1973-77)

McKernan's first entry into politics was being elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1972. He did so as one of the youngest ever to serve in that capacity, being only 24 years old.

He was later elected to a second term, where his colleagues selected him as assistant Republican floor leader.

He left the state legislature in 1976 to begin practicing law at a Portland law firm.

Congressman (1983-87)

McKernan was twice elected to the United States House of Representatives, in both 1982 and 1984.

While he served in the House, he had the unusual distinction of dating the other member of Maine's congressional delegation - Olympia Snowe. The two had met while they had earlier served in the Maine House of Representatives, and began dating in 1978. During their time together in Congress, McKernan and Snowe had nearly identical voting records. Their similar feelings on issues even translated into reversals of opinion - for example, they both switched from opposing aid to the Nicaraguan rebels to later supporting such aid. While their relationship was widely known, it was not reported much by the Maine press and subsequent examinations of their tenure together has wondered if their voting records being so similar was a healthy political situation.

Snowe, for her part dismisses any such criticism by noting that any two politicians of the same political wing (in this case a liberal-republican arm) of the same political party, from the same geographic region were bound to think and vote very similarly on several issues. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8109451.html Article] : The Boston Globe Date: February 23, 1989 Author: Ellen J. Bartlett]

McKernan retired from Congress in order to run for Governor in 1987.

Governor of Maine (1987-95)

1986 Election and First Term

Before the 1986 election, no republican had occupied the Blaine House in two decades. Incumbent governor Joseph E. Brennan was term limited and could not run again. McKernan immediately threw his hat in the ring for governor, and interestingly Brennan declared his candidacy for McKernan's old congressional seat in the first district (which he would eventually go on to win).

His opponent was James E. Tierney, former Majority Leader of the Maine House and state Attorney General - though he did also face two independent candidates, Sherry Huber and John Menario. He based his campaign on better schools and better jobs, believing them to be the keys to making Maine (in his words) "the very best place in America to live, to work and to raise a family." He pledged to pursue both goals without a major tax increase. Additionally, McKernan focused on economic development, claiming that Maine can become what he dubbed "the opportunity state". [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7994492.html Article] : The Boston Globe Date: January 11, 1987 Author: James Stack] After a spirited campaign, McKernan emerged on top, besting Tierney by a nine point margin - a large victory for a republican in the north-east.

McKernan, who was just 38 years old on inauguration day, was welcomed with a 46 million dollar surplus. That good financial news would be short lived, however, as the state would face a number of fiscal challenges in the coming years.

In his first tenure in Augusta, McKernan attempted to grow the Maine economy. He helped initiate a $1.35 million fund to create "centers of innovation," designed to position Maine at the cutting edge of the next technological change. He also worked to expand job training programs, structured to enable the state to quickly change the skills being taught to meet the needs of a new employer. An additional $5.9 million state investment in the University of Maine system was also spearheaded by the governor, intended to enhance its educational and research reputation. These efforts were hammered home with the governor's new economic development slogan: "MAINE: We're America's Future Business." Created "opportunity zones" throughout the state to draw jobs to areas in need of new or additional industry. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8063053.html Article] : The Boston Globe Date: May 22, 1988 Author: John Ellement]

In his second year in office, Governor McKernan launched a public relations campaign intended to enhance the state's image as a place to do business. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8063053.html Article] : The Boston Globe Date: May 22, 1988 Author: John Ellement]

For all the work to develop Maine's economy, McKernan also faced a number of difficulties which stunted his efforts. Budget shortfalls began to run rampant toward the end of his term, and legislative battles with opposition democrats became a frequent occurrence. The relationship between Speaker of the Maine House, John L. Martin and McKernan was poisonous, and the two had difficulty resolving differences over the state budget. The Governor crafted a plan to eliminate or reduce welfare and job training benefits for thousands of low-income Mainers, while Martin and the democrats fought to keep funding at a higher level. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8208367.html Article] : The Boston Globe Date: December 28, 1990 Author: Associated Press]

The difficult budget fights between the governor and the legislature would prove to be a major issue in McKernan's effort to be re-elected.

1990 Election and Second Term

During his announcement for his re-election campaign, McKernan listed growth management initiative, a trash reduction and recycling program, and a plan to remove the Kennebec River dam in Augusta by the end of the 1990s as important initiatives he had succeeded on. Ran for re-election when he was only 41 years old. McKernan credited his administration with taking decisive action against illegal drugs, citing the creation of the Bureau of Intergovernmental Drug Enforcement. Troubled by difficult financial issues, McKernan reiterated his claim that Maine has responded to budget difficulties with less impact on taxpayers than other states in the New England region. McKernan pointed out that Maine was the only state in the Northeast that has a balanced budget and that did it without raising taxes. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8170882.html Article] : The Boston Globe Date: April 24, 1990 Author: Peter Jackson]

Polling in May of 1990 showed former Governor Joseph Brennan with a 9 point lead over the incumbent governor. McKernan felt that the erosion of his support occurred during the legislative budget battles, and would be reversed in the months before the election as the farther into the fiscal year with the budget holding, the better story there will be to tell. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8176331.html Article] : The Boston Globe Date: May 31, 1990 Author: Peter Jackson]

The race was so close that the candidates waited until shortly before noon the following day before summoning reporters to make acceptance and concession remarks. Brennan acknowledged that voter margins in his traditional strongholds in southern Maine weren't enough to offset McKernan's strength in rural and northern Maine.

McKernan has characterized his narrow victory as something of a comeback, considering that pollsters showed him 12 points behind Brennan only two months ago. Momentum began to change only in mid-October, McKernan said yesterday, when his campaign was able to effectively communicate "not only what we had accomplished but also what was at stake in this election." Brennan said that he saw no fatal flaws in his campaign, but added he was hurt by the long federal budget debate that kept him in Washington when he needed to be campaigning in Maine. "It hurts the dynamic of the campaign when you can't be here," he explained. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8200559.html Article] : The Boston Globe Date: November 8, 1990 Author: Denise Goodman]

Once he returned to office, McKernan's second term became defined by large partisan battles with the state Legislature's Democratic majority over state budget deficits, and fiscal management. This included drafting plans for unilaterally cutting spending and is rewriting rules to give state agencies more discretion in how they allocate their reduced funding. Maine's constitution prohibits it from borrowing to offset budget gaps. He threatened to invoke a constitutionally murky 1976 law permitting the governor to make "fair and equitable" spending reductions to comply with the state's balanced-budget mandate. Democrats objected and took McKernan to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, however the court subsequently upheld the governor's authority to take such action. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7642075.html Article] : The Boston Globe Date: January 6, 1991 Author: Adam Pertman]

Additionally, he battled with Democrats about state workman's compensation costs, eventually settling with them for a roughly 26% decrease in spending. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-11089850.html Article] : National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk &Benefits Management Date: July 29, 1991 Author: McGhee, Neil]

Legacy In Maine

When participating in a forum after his governorship was over, McKernan spoke at length about a number of things he felt were successes in his tenure, as well as his own personal disappointments.

According to McKernan, his most prominent milestone was preparing the state for a global economy. He made note that during his stewardship, Maine competed not just with other states, but globally in such countries as Malaysia and Hong Kong. He also mentioned enhancing the state's business climate and workers compensation reforms as significant achievements.

At the same time, he stated that while he was governor, Maine was at the "highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows," economically. He felt that this unpredictability prevented him from being able to forecast a dramatic downturn in state revenues toward the latter part of his time in office, and said that it was his biggest lament.

McKernan's legacy is conflicted. His political party never controlled either branch of the state legislature, so his administration became defined by bitter battles between the Blaine House and the state house. McKernan and the Democratic leadership (particularly John Martin) fostered an extremely hostile and adversarial climate that consumed almost every aspect of Maine government in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The wounds of those conflicts still run deep to this day, as McKernan has made repeated references to the scarred relationship between the two men since leaving office. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-14634875.html Article] : Sun-Journal (Lewiston, ME) Date: January 28, 2007 Author: Paul H. Mills]

Post Government Life

*Honorary State Chairman for John McCain's presidential campaign in Maine. [ [http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080721/NEWS/80721018/-1/NEWS20 Article] : Seacoastonline.com Date: July 21, 2008 Author: Unlisted]

*Served as Outside Director of ImmuCell Corporation since 1995. [ [http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/company-structures-ownership/7120145-1.html Article] : Allbusiness.com Date: April 20 1995 Author: Michael F. Brigham]

*He became Chief Executive Officer of Education Management Corporation on September 1, 2003, where he served until 2006 [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-11801197.html Article] : Bangor Daily News: March 11, 2006 Author: Bill Trotter]

Personal Life and Family

McKernan has been married twice. His first marriage was to Judith Vigue. They had one child together, named Peter McKernan but the couple subsequently divorced in 1978. On January 23rd, 1991, Peter died of a previously undetected heart problem after laying in a coma for nine days. He had collapsed during baseball practice at Dartmouth College. He was 20 years old at the time, played junior varsity baseball at Dartmouth and had recently joined the school's Beta Theta Pi fraternity [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7645158.html Article] : The Boston Globe Date: January 27, 1991 Author: Adam Pertman]

In 1989, he married current U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe after the two had been dating for roughly six years. McKernan and Snowe met while serving in the Maine House of Representatives, and again served together in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 1987. McKernan credits himself with persuading Snowe to run for Congress in the first place, while she contends that a working paper he drew up which elaborated on the hardships and obstacles of a congressional campaign, nearly caused her to abandon the idea. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8109451.html Article] : The Boston Globe Date: February 23, 1989 Author: Ellen J. Bartlett]

Electoral History

Election box candidate with party link
|party = Republican Party (US)
candidate = John R. McKernan
votes =
percentage = 39.9%
change = -Election box candidate with party link
|party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = James E. Tierney
votes =
percentage = 30.2%
change = -Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Sherry Huber
votes =
percentage = 15.1%
change = -Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = John Menario
votes =
percentage = 14.9%
change = -

Election box candidate with party link
|party = Republican Party (US)
candidate = John R. McKernan
votes = 243,766
percentage = 46.7%
change = -Election box candidate with party link
|party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Joseph Brennan
votes = 230,038
percentage = 44.1%
change = -Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Andrew Adam
votes = 48,377
percentage = 9.3%
change = -

References