The speaker of the Maine House is calling on a state representative to resign over allegations that he violated Maine’s Clean Election Act during his 2022 campaign.

Rep. Clinton E. Collamore Sr., D-Waldoboro, was indicted last month on multiple counts of aggravated forgery, unsworn falsification and violations of the Clean Election Act, according to the Dec. 15 indictment filed in Lincoln County Superior Court.

Rep. Clinton Collamore

House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, has asked Collamore, 62, to step down.

“In light of these allegations, the speaker of the House is requesting Rep. Collamore’s immediate resignation,” according to a statement Tuesday afternoon by Talbot Ross’ spokesperson, Mary-Erin Casale. Casale said Talbot Ross would have no further comment on the matter.

Collamore’s 42-page indictment alleges he committed 20 counts of aggravated forgery, a Class B crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine; 11 counts of unsworn falsification (Class D); and one count of violating Maine’s Clean Election Act (Class E).

Jonathan Wayne, executive director of the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics, issued a memo Tuesday updating commission members on election misconduct allegations against Collamore and Matthew Toth of Sanford, an unsuccessful Republican candidate for House District 143. Toth eventually withdrew from the November 2022 general election after being denied clean election funds. Both matters are scheduled to go before the Maine Ethics Commission at its Jan. 30 meeting.

About 200 legislative candidates receive Clean Election Act funding each election year, Wayne said. To qualify, candidates must collect Qualifying Contributions, or QCs, of $5 each from at least 60 registered voters in their district and submit them to the commission’s office by April 20 of the election year. A contributor must give $5 and sign a form affirming their contribution came from personal funds.

Commission staff determined that Collamore forged several contributor signatures. He received more than $14,000 in Maine Clean Election Act funds.

“Staff re-examined the forms and identified more than 30 contributors whose signatures did not seem genuine. Our opinion was that the candidate had signed for the contributors,” Wayne wrote in his memo to the commission.

The commission referred both cases to the Office of the Attorney General for further investigation. The AG’s office obtained criminal indictments for both candidates, Wayne said. The indictment against Toth was handed up on Dec. 5, 2022. Toth could not be reached Tuesday night for comment.

Attempts to reach Collamore Tuesday were also unsuccessful. He did not answer his cell phone or respond to an email message, and a message left at the offices of his Boothbay Harbor attorney was not returned.

Collamore won the House District 45 seat in November by a thin margin over Republican challenger Lynn Madison. District 45 includes Waldoboro, Bremen and Louds Island in Lincoln County and the Knox County towns of Friendship and Washington.

The Lincoln County Democrats described Collamore, in a profile posted after he announced he was running, as a fourth-generation lobsterman, a graduate of Medomak Valley High School, and a graduate of the University of Maine Augusta, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in public administration. He worked as a machinist at Bath Iron Works for 20 years and was president of the shipyard’s machinists union. He is also a fisherman and served as a Waldoboro selectman for more than 18 years.

According to state lobster license records, Collamore captains “Just Right,” a 37-foot boat based in Bremen. In 2019, he landed 15,975 pounds of lobster.

Former Rep. David R. Burns, a Republican from Alfred, was indicted on forgery and theft charges in 2012 after he won the House District 138 seat. He diverted more than $1,000 in public campaign funds to pay personal expenses, then filed false campaign finance reports, according to the indictment.

Burns was sentenced in June 2012 to six months in jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor forgery and theft charges in connection with his 2010 election campaign. Burns represented House District 138 for a little more than a year before resigning his seat.