Charles E. Summers, Jr.

Charles E. "Charlie" Summers, Jr. (born 1959 in Danville, Illinois) is a Maine politician and the Secretary of State of Maine. He is also a small businessperson and veteran of Iraq War. He was the Republican candidate for United States Congress in Maine's 1st congressional district several times, including a 2008 defeat to Chellie Pingree. In 2008, he campaigned in Maine after serving on active duty with the United States Navy in Baghdad, Iraq. On December 1, 2010, Summers was elected Maine's Secretary of State by the state legislature.

Biography

Summers was elected Maine's 48th Secretary of State on December 1, 2010. He is a former State Senator in Maine, and a former top aide to U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe. He has served in various elected and appointed positions in state and federal government, most recently (March 2005 - June 2007) as the New England Regional Administrator (Region I) for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). In this capacity, he was responsible for oversight of SBA District Offices in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont and has oversight of the SBA's Financing, Marketing and Outreach efforts in the six-state region.

Prior to assuming his position with the SBA, Mr. Summers served as State Director for United States Senator Olympia J. Snowe from 1995 to 2004. Summers served as both an advisor and advocate for Mainers who needed assistance navigating federal agencies. In 1990, Summers was elected to the Maine State Senate (District 31) and served on the Joint Standing Committees on Legal Affairs and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Upon re-election in 1992 he served as the ranking member on the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation. He ran unsuccessfully for United States Congress in Maine's first Congressional district in 1994, 2004 and 2008.

Summers also serves as a public affairs officer (Commander (Sel) in the U.S. Navy Reserve. In March 2007, it was announced that Summers had been recalled to active duty by the U.S. Navy. He was deployed to Iraq in July 2007 to participate in (Iraq War) Operation Iraqi Freedom, attached to Multi National Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) Strategic Effects Directorate. He concluded his deployment in May 2008, returning home to Maine. Summers' wife, Ruth, acted as his campaign surrogate during his absence, campaigning on his behalf. Summers was last recalled to active duty after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks serving at the Pentagon on the staff of former Secretary of the Navy Gordon England.

In September 2010, Summers was deployed to Afghanistan to serve as a public affairs officer. On December 1, 2010 Summers was elected Maine's Secretary of State by the state legislature in Augusta. His two-year term began on January 6 2011.

Summers grew up in his family's hotel business and later managed motels in Bangor, Maine and South Portland, Maine, and has owned and run his own small businesses. Summers grew up in Kewanee, Illinois, and moved to Maine in 1983 after graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is married to Ruth Summers, and has three children.

Electoral results

• 2008 General Election - Maine's 1st Congressional District
  • Chellie Pingree (D) 55%
  • Charlie Summers (R) 45%

See also

Biography portal

• United States House of Representatives elections in Maine, 2008#District 1

External links

• Charlie Summers for Congress Website
• "Recalled to active duty, ex-business agency chief eyes Congress," Boston Globe - June 18, 2007
• "Maine Republican Enters House Race — Then Reports for Iraq Duty," New York Times - July 6, 2007
• "The Virtue of Valor: The Virtues of Charlie Summers' Absentee Campaign," Kennebec Journal - August 2007

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Name	Summers, Charles E., Jr.
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Date of birth	1959
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