Governor King and his wife, Mary Hermon (2002)
(1944- ) was born on March 31st, 1944, in Alexandria, Virginia, was president of two of his classes at the local high school, graduated from Dartmouth College in 1966 and the University of Virginia Law School in 1969.
While in high school, he attended Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “March on Washington” on August 28, 1963, along with 200,000 others. His parents were both Democrats and teachers. His father later became an attorney, then Magistrate for Eastern Virginia.
King moved to Maine and began his career in 1969 as a staff attorney for Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Skowhegan. In 1972 he became Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Alcoholism and Narcotics in the office of then-Senator William D. Hathaway.
In 1975 he returned to Maine to practice law with the firm of Smith, Lloyd and King in Brunswick. In the same year he began his 18 year-stint as host of the television show “Maine Watch” on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.
In 1983 he became vice-president and general counsel of Swift River/Hafslund Company, an alternative energy development company based in Portland and Boston. When that company was bought by new owners, who decided to cut staff, King was among those affected. However, he traded part of his severance package for the right to pursue an energy conservation project, with which he had been involved.
King founded and served as President of Northeast Energy Management, Inc. in 1989, a position he held for 5 years. The Brunswick-based company specialized in the development of large scale energy conservation projects at commercial and industrial facilities that were customers of Central Maine Power Company in central and southern Maine.
Before running for governor he sold his energy company to Eastern Utility Associates for $19 million, netting $8 million after discharging liabilities.
After spending $1 million of his own money, plus $700,000 in contributions, he was elected in 1994 with 35 percent of the vote as a non-party (independent) candidate for governor. King, was reelected in 1998 by 59 percent of the vote. At the time he was one of only two independent governors in the country. (Read Governor King’s first and second inaugural addresses.)
On November 6, 2012 he was elected Maine’s first non-party (independent) U.S. Senator, joining two other independent Senators. King announced that he would caucus with the Senate Democrats for organizational purposes, which would include election of caucus leadership, allocation of committee assignments, and policy development.
Additional resources
King, Angus. Angus King, Independent For Governor: Making A Difference. Brunswick, Me. The Author. 1994.
Press releases of the Maine Office of the Governor. Maine State Archives, Augusta, ME. Governors press releases explaining actions and positions on current issues and initiatives. The records are from the administrations of Kenneth M. Curtis (1967-1975), Joseph E. Brennan (1979-1987), John R. McKernan (1987-1995), and Angus S. King , Jr.(1995-2003). Public statements on current issues released to the media by the Governor’s Press Secretary. No legal restrictions on access. Maine State Archives continues to receive materials for this collection.