It was just a few weeks ago that we were noting that Mike Heath, formerly of the Maine Family Policy Council, had suddenly reappeared on the scene as the head of the American Family Association's affiliate in Maine.
During the fight over marriage in Maine, Heath had repeatedly embarrassed the right-wing effort by claiming that gay marriage leads to things like graffiti, vandalism, and crop failure and eventually found himself cast aside by the movement entirely. As a result, he resigned his position as the head of the Maine Family Policy Council, announcing that it was time for him to do something else with his life and declaring that he was going to get involved in the manufacture and distribution of solar cookers in Africa.
Then he disappeared for several month, only to reemerge in March, leading the state's AFA affiliate.
And now, via Pam's House Blend, we see that Heath has even bigger plans:
Michael Heath, former executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, has registered with the state ethics commission as a gubernatorial candidate.
Heath, a resident of China, is listed as an unenrolled candidate, which means he has until June 1 to get at least 4,000 signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
Heath recently announced the formation of a group called the American Family Association of Maine. At the time, he said he was "re-entering public life to continue the fight against the gay-rights lobby."
Heath spent 15 years working for the Christian Civic League, and became its executive director in 1994. He twice led people's veto efforts to overturn gay-rights laws.
Heath was not a visible part of last year's fight over same-sex marriage, which ended with voters repealing a state law legalizing it. He announced his resignation in September from the civic league, which is now called the Maine Family Policy Council.
There are now 24 people running for governor. Of those, 12 are Democrats or Republicans who will compete in the June 8 primary for the right to represent their parties on the November ballot. For the other 12, June 1 is the deadline to determine who among them will qualify to compete in November.
