He may be down, but Independent won't drop out of Maine governor's race

Independent candidate Eliot Cutler said Wednesday that he won't drop out of the heated three-way race for governor despite increasing pressure from voters who view him as a spoiler that will ensure another term for Republican incumbent Paul LePage.

Cutler acknowledged that the odds of him winning the race are long and reiterated his earlier statements that if voters don't believe he can, they should vote for someone else. He said he offers an important choice to voters who are sick of the two major political parties, and he urged Maine residents to "vote their conscience."

"We have a steep hill to climb in the next few days," said Cutler, who lost to LePage by 10,000 votes in 2010. "I am a realist about my chances, but I'll be damned if I will kowtow to party politics and allow a bunch of polls to drown out the voices of thousands of Maine people who believe that standing for principles, ideals and ideas makes you an American and not a spoiler."

Polls show Cutler in a distant third behind LePage and Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, who are neck and neck.

Hours after Cutler's press conference Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Angus King, who initially backed his fellow independent in the race, announced that he was throwing his support behind Michaud, saying "it is clear that the voters of Maine are not prepared to elect Eliot in 2014."

"This was not an easy decision, but I think the circumstances require that those of us who have supported Eliot look realistically at the options before us at this critical moment in Maine history," he said in a statement.

Michaud supporters have been increasingly pushing the idea that a vote for Cutler is a vote for LePage and are urging liberal voters to unite behind the Democrat to prevent the same split vote that helped the Republican governor win four years ago.

New ads this week from California billionaire Tom Steyer's group NextGen Climate declare that "if you want Paul LePage to take a hike, you've got to vote for Mike." The group's Maine state director, Ben Waxman, said in a statement Wednesday that Cutler's comments only "further reinforced that this is really a two-person race between Gov. LePage and Mike Michaud."

Cutler acknowledged that "gripping fear" is driving many voters to support one of his opponents "with a strategic vote against the other." He said he's been getting anonymous letters at home and emails from people asking him to leave the race. He said someone placed a large sign outside his house the other morning that just read "Please..."

But, Cutler said: "I am not standing down and neither should those voters whose consciences compel them to cast a vote for me, for their hopes and not their fears, as they share my optimism for a rewarding Election Day."

Follow Alanna Durkin at http://www.twitter.com/aedurkin