Harold L. Silverman (born March 1, 1934) is an American politician from Maine. Silverman represented Calais in the Maine House of Representatives from 1973 to 1976 as a Republican. He resigned from that seat in May 1976, approximately 6 months prior to the general election, to become a staffer for independent governor James B. Longley. He was elected as an independent to one term (1979-1980) in the Maine Senate, representing a portion of Washington County. He was the first independent State Senator in over 100 years.[1]

In 1980, Silverman sought the Democratic Party's nomination for Maine's 2nd congressional district. He kicked off his campaign in Lewiston, Maine's Carpenters Union Hall in March 1980.[2] He eventually won the nomination but was defeated by incumbent Republican Olympia Snowe. He earned 21.49% of the vote.

Silverman traveled to Israel each year to work on a kibbutz.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Postlewaite, Susan (November 14, 1978). "Harold Silverman: Maine's First Independent Senator Since 1880". Lewiston Daily Sun. p. 8. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  2. ^ Grape, Nancy (March 20, 1980). "Silverman starts In a union hall and hopes to end up in Congress". The Lewiston Journal. p. 1. Retrieved 26 September 2015.