WISCASSET, Maine — A Maine lawmaker pleaded not guilty to all counts but resigned from the Legislature in a Wiscasset courtroom Thursday following a recent fraud indictment.
After being accused of forging around 30 signatures to qualify for election funds, newly elected Rep. Clinton Collamore was asked in January to resign from his House District 45 seat, which represents Bremen, Friendship, Waldoboro, and Washington.
He was elected to the Legislature in November after beating Republican Lynn Madison.
In early February, Collamore was removed from the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee.
Collamore received six payments totaling over $14,274 in Maine Clean Elections Act funds for his campaign from the forged signatures.
To qualify for public campaign funds, such as those from the Maine Clean Elections Act, candidates must collect $5 contributions from at least 60 registered voters in their district.
But four people that Collamore allegedly signed for told the state's Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices they didn't sign the forms, leading the case to be referred to the Office of the Maine Attorney General.
"In light of these allegations, the Speaker of the House is requesting Mr. Collamore’s immediate resignation," interim spokesperson for Democratic Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, Mary Erin Casale, said in a statement.
In court Thursday, Collamore resigned from his House District 45 seat.
Collamore said he returned his legislative salary and will send back between $12,000 and $15,000 of his Maine Clean Elections Act funding to the state.