In a news release, Cain said U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin “tried to mislead voters” about his record with a financial firm that once managed the pension fund for employees at Bath Iron Works.
Cain, who hopes to unseat the Republican in Tuesday’s election, said information in a Sun Journal story about his role was “a shocking departure from Congressman Poliquin’s long history of trying to take credit for his investment management experience.”
The story pointed to a 1993 quote from Poliquin in which he declared he has “never been involved in the investment process” for his firm, so his departure from the company “will have zero effect on the investment management for clients” such as Bath Iron Works.
Yet Poliquin’s campaign advertising has touted his experience “managing pensions for businesses like Bath Iron Works” and insisted he was “successfully managing pensions at Bath Iron Works.”
“So which is it?” Cain asked. “Does Poliquin have experience ‘managing pensions’ or was his impact on investment management ‘zero’?”
Poliquin’s campaign said he has always told voters that he was a manager at the firm, Avatar Associates, and “not part of the Wall Street soup.”
It blamed any confusion on attack ads launched against Poliquin over the years, not anything the congressman said.
Cain, though, had a different take.
“Congressman Poliquin has not been straight with Mainers on countless issues, from his position on Donald Trump to his attempt earlier this year to switch a congressional vote in secret,” Cain said.
“Now we’ve learned that he has also tried to mislead voters about his background,” she said.
“Poliquin’s political career is based on the millions of dollars he made on Wall Street and the claims he made about his experience managing pensions. It now appears that Poliquin’s personal wealth and self-serving record are the only things we can be sure of.”
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