Ben Chipman

Ben Chipman is an American politician from Maine. He served in the Maine House of Representatives from December 2010 until December 2016 as an independent.[1] Since December 2016, he has served as a member of the Maine Senate.

Chipman was elected in 2010 as an independent candidate for a seat that had previously been held by Herb Adams. In 2012 Adams resurfaced to challenge Chipman in an attempt to win back his former seat. Chipman was re-elected with 54% of the vote, defeating former Democratic state legislator Adams and Republican Gwen Tuttle.[2]

Chipman was also a member of Portland's Charter Commission from 2009 to 2010, which rewrote the City Charter. He worked in the Legislature from 2002 to 2006 as legislative aide to John Eder, a member of the Maine Green Independent Party who subsequently managed Chipman's senate campaign. During his first term, Chipman was the Maine House of Representative's only independent.[3] In 2012, fellow unenrolleds Jeffrey Evangelos, Joseph E. Brooks and James J. Campbell joined Chipman in the Maine House.[4]

Chipman was re-elected in 2014 after receiving nearly 60% of the vote in a three-way race.

Chipman announced on September 4, 2015 that he was joining the Democratic Party. He stated that one of his priorities was to hold Maine Gov. Paul LePage accountable for his behavior and by joining the majority party in the Maine House of Representatives he would be in a better position to accomplish that goal. He was one of three members of the Maine House who requested an investigation of Governor LePage for using $530,000 of taxpayer funds to pressure a private school into firing their new president, a political rival of the Governor. The state's Government Oversight Committee unanimously voted launch the investigation. He has also advocated for the impeachment of LePage.[5]