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Joseph E. Brennan

Joseph Edward Brennan (November 2, 1934 – April 6, 2024) was an American lawyer and politician from Maine. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 70th governor of Maine from 1979 to 1987 and in the United States House of Representatives for Maine's 1st congressional district from 1987 to 1991.[1] Brennan was a commissioner on the Federal Maritime Commission during the Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama administrations.

Early life

Brennan was born on November 2, 1934, in Portland, Maine.[2] He lived on Kellogg Street, on the third floor of tenement housing on Munjoy Hill.[3][4] He was raised in a family of eight children, with his parents being Irish immigrants.[4] Brennan graduated from Cheverus High School,[5] Boston College, and the University of Maine School of Law. Brennan served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955.[6]

Government service

Early career

Brennan in 1973

Brennan won election to the Maine House of Representatives in 1964, and served three terms.[6] When first elected to the Maine House he did not own a car and hitchhiked up from Portland.[7] In 1970, he was elected county attorney for Cumberland County. When he was District Attorney, his Munjoy Hill house was shot up, with bullets landing by his infant daughter. This led Brennan to support the ban on assault-style weapons in the United States.[8] He was elected to the Maine Senate in 1972.[6]

Attorney General and Governor of Maine

Brennan in 2005

Brennan ran for governor of Maine in 1974; he lost the Democratic nomination to George J. Mitchell.[9] The Maine Legislature selected Brennan to be the Maine Attorney General on January 2, 1975.[10] As attorney general, Brennan took part in negotiations with both Wabanaki tribes and the federal government on what became the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act of 1980, a federal law enacted during the presidency of Jimmy Carter.[4] Brennan ran for governor again in 1978, winning the primary and general elections by 49,631 votes. Brennan was reelected in 1982 by 108,117 votes, serving as governor from 1979 to 1987. As governor, Brennan launched education reforms, pressed for tough highway safety measures, and helped to establish the Finance Authority of Maine.[4] Among the notable people Brennan appointed as governor was future Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, whom Brennan nominated to the US Senate seat formerly occupied by Edmund Muskie upon Muskie's resignation to become Secretary of State, and future Governor of Maine Janet T. Mills,[4] whom Brennan appointed as the first female district attorney in the New England region.[11][12][4]

U. S. Representative

In 1986, Brennan ran for the U.S. House in Maine's 1st congressional district and defeated Republican Rollin Ives with 53% of the vote.[13] in 1988 Brennan was reelected by a margin of 63% to 37%.[14]

Later gubernatorial and Senate campaigns

Brennan ran for governor again in 1990, losing to Republican John McKernan by 13,728 votes.[15] He ran again in 1994, losing to Independent Angus King by 7,878 votes, but placing second, ahead of Republican Susan Collins.[16] He faced Collins in another statewide election in 1996, running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Bill Cohen,[17] which Collins won by 32,196 votes.[18]

Later career

In 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated Brennan to serve as a commissioner on the Federal Maritime Commission, a small independent agency that regulates shipping between the U.S. and foreign countries.[19] He was re-nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed for a second term at the FMC in 2004.[20]

Personal life and death

Joe married Connie LaPointe Brennan in 1994. Joe had two children :J. B. Brennan, who is a 25-year veteran of the United States Secret Service, and Dr. Tara Brennan, who holds a Doctorate of Psychology from LIU Brooklyn.[21]

Brennan died of natural causes at his home in Munjoy Hill, on the night of April 6, 2024, at the age of 89.[6][22]

Electoral history

Maine U.S. Senate Election 1996[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Susan Collins 298,422 49.2%
Democratic Joe Brennan 266,226 43.9%
Green John Rensenbrink 23,441 3.9%
Maine Gubernatorial Election 1994[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Angus King 180,829 35%
Democratic Joe Brennan 172,951 34%
Republican Susan Collins 117,990 23%
Maine Gubernatorial Election 1990[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican John McKernan Jr. (incumbent) 243,766 47%
Democratic Joe Brennan 230,038 44%
Independent Andrew Adam 48,377 9%
US House election, 1988: Maine District 1[26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Brennan (incumbent) 167,623 60.11%
Republican Edward S. O'Meara 111,125 36.78%
Majority 79,864 26.44%
Turnout 278,748
Democratic hold Swing
US House election, 1986: Maine District 1[27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Brennan 121,848 53.16%
Republican H. Rollin Ives 100,260 43.74%
Labor for Maine Plato Truman 7,109 3.10%
Majority 21,588 9.42%
Turnout 229,217
Democratic gain from Republican
Maine Gubernatorial Election 1982[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Brennan (incumbent) 281,066 61%
Republican Charles Cragin 172,949 38%
Maine Gubernatorial Election 1978[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Brennan 176,493 48%
Republican Linwood E. Palmer, Jr. 126,862 34%
Independent Herman Frankland 65,889 18%

References

  1. ^ Congressional Record: Daily Digest of the 100th Congress, First Session. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. 1987 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ Hunt, Matt. "Joseph E. Brennan – The Blaine House, Home of Maine's Governors". blainehouse.org. Archived from the original on April 7, 2024. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  3. ^ "Boyhood Home of Governor Brennan". Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Sharp, David (April 6, 2024). "Joe Brennan, Democratic former governor of Maine and US congressman, dies at 89". Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 6, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  5. ^ "Maine". Official Congressional Directory. 100. U.S. Government Printing Office: 88. 1987. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d "Joseph Brennan, former Maine governor, congressman and political leader, dies at 89". Press Herald. April 6, 2024. Archived from the original on April 6, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  7. ^ "Brennan, McKernan have similar pasts > Gubernatorial candidates took comparable political paths to Blaine House". Bangor Daily News. October 20, 1990. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  8. ^ "Senate races draw national leaders> Kennedy's visit boost for Brennan". Bangor Daily News. October 19, 1996. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  9. ^ "Mitchell will face Erwin in November". Kennebec Journal. June 12, 1974. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 6, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Legislature under way: Brennan, Scribner selected for posts". The Bangor Daily News. January 2, 1975. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 6, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Office of the Maine AG: Biography of Attorney General Janet T. Mills". maine.gov. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  12. ^ Woodard, Colin (September 16, 2018). "Janet Mills' mission: Break yet another glass ceiling". Portland Press Herald. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  13. ^ "Brennan celebrates bittersweet victory". Journal Tribune. November 5, 1986. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 8, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "THE 1988 ELECTIONS: Northeast; MAINE". The New York Times. November 9, 1988. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  15. ^ "How Maine voted: Governor's races 1990 – 2018". Press Herald. October 5, 2022. Archived from the original on April 6, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  16. ^ "Unfettered By Party, He's Set To Govern". The New York Times. November 18, 1994. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  17. ^ Broder, David S. (October 24, 1996). "Republicans Hope Senate Candidate Can Go Against The Grain In Maine". Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  18. ^ "Maine Sends Second GOP Woman To Senate". CNN.com. November 5, 1996. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  19. ^ "President Clinton Names Joseph. E. Brennan as Commissioner of the Federal Maritime Commission". The White House (Press release). February 3, 1999. Archived from the original on April 6, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  20. ^ "Bush names Democrats to federal boards – UPI Archives". UPI.
  21. ^ "Obituary of Joseph Brennan". Bangor Daily News. April 8, 2024. Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  22. ^ Ledford, David (April 6, 2024). "Former Maine governor Joseph Brennan dies at 89". FOX 22/ABC 7. Archived from the original on April 6, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  23. ^ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1996" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 25, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  24. ^ "1994 Gubernatorial General Election Results – Maine". Archived from the original on April 11, 2024. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  25. ^ "1990 Gubernatorial General Election Results – Maine". Archived from the original on May 28, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  26. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on August 4, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  28. ^ "1982 Gubernatorial General Election Results – Maine". Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  29. ^ "1978 Gubernatorial General Election Results – Maine". Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of Maine
1975–1979 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Maine
1978, 1982 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Maine
1990, 1994 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Maine
(Class 2)
1996 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Maine
1979–1987 		Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maine's 1st congressional district
1987–1991 		Succeeded by