AUGUSTA — The spokesman for Republicans in the Maine House of Representatives is leaving his post to pursue different political work, he said Thursday
David Sorensen, who took a leave of absence last spring to serve as spokesman for the Maine Republican Party during the last election cycle will not return to his State House post when the Legislature reconvenes in December.
Sorensen’s last day with the Maine GOP was Friday, Nov. 7.
Sorensen told news reporters Thursday he had multiple job offers on the table but declined to say what they were or whether he had accepted anything.
Often confrontational and combative with the State House press corps, Sorensen, who served in the post for about two years, said his singular focus was advancing the Republican agenda and conservative views.
In an interview with the Bangor Daily News on Thursday, Sorensen said he didn’t seek the spotlight for himself but to advance the agenda of his boss, House Minority Leader Ken Fredette, R-Newport.
Sorensen and his colleagues at the Maine GOP frequently found themselves under the gun for social media posts on Facebook and Twitter that upset Democrats and their supporters.
One Facebook post by Sorensen featured a photo of him with U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, who was the Democratic candidate for governor this year.
Sorensen quipped in the message that Michaud, who is seen smiling nicely in the photo, “had no idea” who Sorensen was.
In another post, Sorensen leveled charges against incumbent state Sen. Stan Gerzofsky, a Brunswick Democrat, who was pictured with a replica of a state highway sign that welcomes visitors with the declaration, “Welcome to Maine, the Way Life Should Be.”
In his message, Sorensen suggested that Gerzofsky may have stolen the sign.
But Sorensen has also been widely credited with helping to craft a conservative message that focused voters’ attention on the issue of welfare abuse including the misuse of state-issued EBT cards and other problems. Republicans suggested those problems were proof Maine’s system was overly generous and not well-controlled — a theme that seemed to resonate with voters. They sent more Republicans to the State House, including a new Senate majority and a second term for Republican Gov. Paul LePage.
Republicans also captured Maine’s 2nd Congressional District seat from Democrats and whittled the Democrats’ majority in the state House of Representatives by 11 seats bringing the balance of power closer to parity.
“Whatever I do, I want to help get the conservative message out, help Republicans win and help reform government,” Sorensen said of his future career prospects.
Sorensen, a recent graduate of the University of Maine School of Law, began his work with the House GOP in November 2011 as a policy aide. In July 2012, he became the caucus’ new communications director. It was his job to coordinate and promote the message and agenda of the incoming caucus, led by Fredette.
Fredette said Thursday that Sorensen’s departure was on good terms. He said he met with Sorensen on Wednesday to discuss the spokesman’s future and the House GOP caucus was “very grateful for the hard work that David Sorensen did for the first 18 months of the 126th legislative session.”
“He worked in a fashion that produced work that was consistent with the governor’s policies and with Republican ideals and values,” Fredette said.
He said Sorensen went to serve the Maine Republican Party during the election cycle based on the Republican team’s decision that his skills and energy would be put to best use in that role.
“Upon the successful conclusion of the election cycle, Dave has been offered various opportunities he would like to explore,” Fredette said. “If he wanted to come back, we would welcome him back.”
Sorensen’s Democratic counterparts declined comment for this report.
Mario Moretto of the Bangor Daily News and Scott Thistle, the Sun Journal’s state politics editor, contributed to this report.
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