Conservative consultant outed as operative behind anti-Strimling PAC

Lance Dutson, a political consultant and former CEO of the conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center, has been working as the primary consultant for the developer-funded political action committee opposing Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling, according to reporting by the Portland Press Herald.

Dutson’s affiliation with the Unite Portland PAC was publicized by the newspaper on Friday, just days after Strimling’s re-election campaign filed a complaint against the PAC for withholding information about its operations. The PAC had raised nearly $20,000 for the race through September, mostly contributed by some of Portland’s largest real estate developers.

“Lance Dutson isn’t just a Susan Collins backer. He’s also the former head of the far-right, Koch-funded Maine Heritage Policy Center,” Strimling’s campaign team said in a statement emailed to supporters Monday. “No wonder the funders of the PAC did everything they could to hide the identity of the GOP political consultant doing their dirty work. The reason they are teaming up to defeat Ethan is because he’s been such an effective and fearless progressive champ.”

Dutson provided consulting work for Unite Portland under a newly registered corporate entity called TCV Group LLC, to which the committee reported paying about $15,000 for communications work. The LLC, which was formed by Dutson, though he is not listed on its certificate, is registered to a P.O. Box in Scarborough. Dutson declined to explain to the Press Herald why he wasn’t using his firm Red Hill Strategies, which was formed in 2013, to provide work for Unite Portland. He said that the new company was “absolutely not” meant to hide that he was working for the committee.

“I do a lot of business with a lot of different people,” Dutson told the Press Herald. “The arrangements I have with me and my clients are between me and my clients.”

The Maine Heritage Policy Center is a policy and political organization funded in part by the Koch network of conservative foundations. It supports lowering corporate taxes and privatizing health care and education.

Dutson has worked for a number of Republican candidates and elected officials, serving as Special Assistant for Communications to the Republican House Speaker early in former Governor Paul LePage’s tenure and as Senator Susan Collins’ communications director during her 2014 re-election campaign.

Two years ago, Dutson managed the developer-backed campaign against a rent control initiative in Portland, which would have put restrictions on the rent increases that continue to displace low-income residents.

(Photo via Red Hill Strategies)