Eliot Cutler, independent gubernatorial candidate for Maine in 2010, will present “The Parties Are Over: Why That’s Good for America” at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 24, in Hyman Forum of Goucher College’s Athenaeum.
He will discuss how political hyper-partisanship has bred bitter division and legislative paralysis in Washington and why it is a good thing fewer and fewer Americans consider themselves either Democrats or Republicans.
This event is free and open to the public, but tickets must be reserved at www.goucher.edu/tickets or by calling 410-337-6333.
Cutler was born and raised in Bangor, Maine. After graduating from Harvard University and the law school of Georgetown University, he worked in Washington, DC, from 1968 to 1973 for U.S. Senator Edmund S. Muskie (D-Maine), where he helped craft the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and other environmental laws.
Cutler later served under President Jimmy Carter as associate director for natural resources, energy, and science in the Office of Management and Budget, where he oversaw the policies and budget at the departments of Agriculture, Energy, and Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency. He also served as White House energy policy chief during the energy crises of the late 1970s and represented the United States in international negotiations and in several highly charged land claims cases involving American Indian tribes.
In 1988, he founded the law firm Cutler & Stanfield LLP, which grew to be the second-largest environmental law firm in the United States. Following his firm’s merger with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in 2000, Cutler lived in Beijing from 2006 to 2009, where he opened the first office in China for Akin Gump, was the partner in charge of the firm’s Asia practice, and represented Chinese clients in making investments outside China.
He resigned as a partner with the firm in 2010 to make a run as an independent candidate in Maine’s gubernatorial election. Despite near-zero name recognition and a field with four competitors, Cutler garnered 36.3% of the vote. He had the highest percentage of any independent candidate for major office in the United States in 2010 and the strongest finish among all first-time independent candidates for governor in Maine, including former independent governors Angus King and James Longley.
Today, he has rejoined Akin Gump as a senior counsel. He is also chair of MaineAsia LLC, a business development and consulting firm; a principal in Maine Seafood Ventures LLC, a company formed to export lobster and other Maine seafood products to China and other foreign markets; and a principal in Pacific Islands Development LLC, a firm formed to undertake sustainable and eco-friendly projects in the tourism, agriculture, and fishery sectors of Palau and other island nations in the western Pacific.
Cutler’s appearance is sponsored by the Office of the President and is part of this fall’s schedule of politically themed events at Goucher College.
MEDIA CONTACT
Kristen Pinheiro
Media Relations Director
kristen.pinheiro@goucher.edu
410-337-6316